Pedrosa laments 'worst race of career'

The Spaniard has not yet fully recovered from the fractured wrist he sustained when he crashed out of the lead at the Sachsenring last month. But he, and all the other Michelin riders, were unable to get anywhere near the pace all weekend at Brno.

"This weekend has been a complete disaster," said Pedrosa. "Today's race was probably the worst of my career, in fact, I couldn't even race, all I could do was ride.

"I couldn't control the bike, I didn't feel safe. I was riding so slow I felt impotent and ashamed. I considered stopping but I stayed out there to get some points. I almost crashed twice, so I just tried to finish the race. I did my best in very difficult circumstances."

Pedrosa called for a a big improvement from Michelin if his already slim title hopes aren't to vanish entirely with six races to go.

"We really need a drastic improvement from the tyres, I had no grip at the front and no grip at the rear, from the first lap to the last," he said.

"It was impossible for me to push any harder, even though I was going very slow, three or four seconds slower than the leader. At the end, the tyre performance was even worse than it had been during the early laps."