Pedrosa keen to repay team

The Spanish crowd favourite had to switch to his spare bike while his primary machine was repaired following a spectacular accident early in the second practice session.

Pedrosa fell from the bike as he accelerated through Turn 3, and although he was uninjured, the bike was heavily damaged as it rolled through the gravel trap.

"Today everything's fine," Pedrosa told BBC television.

"The only thing was that we had to change every piece of the bike because it was completely destroyed, so it was a hard job for my mechanics, but I hope tomorrow I can give something back to them."

Although Pedrosa could not match Valentino Rossi and Randy de Puniet in qualifying, he believes he is in good shape for Sunday's Grand Prix

"The race is the most important. Every time here is a very long race. We will see if we can do a great race," he said.