Pedrosa relieved to hang on to third

The works Honda rider had suspected after qualifying second that his team would need to find more speed for the race, and sure enough he was unable to fight Valentino Rossi for the victory.

Pedrosa also lost second place to the resurgent Casey Stoner, and then had to push hard in the final laps as Gresini Honda's Alex de Angelis closed in.

"It was a difficult race, because from the moment we started it was a very high rhythm," he told BBC television.

"We tried to follow Valentino but it was not possible.

"I just tried to keep second position but Stoner was very fast at the end so I couldn't manage it.

"I was worried that de Angelis was coming from behind, but finally we got third. It's not perfect, but it's good."

The result moves Pedrosa up to second in the championship with Jorge Lorenzo crashing out, but the Spaniard is now 12 points behind Rossi, who has won the last three races.

Pedrosa is now keen to strike back when the series returns to his home country for the Catalunya race next weekend.

"It was hard for us," he said in the post-race press conference. "But the next race is Barcelona and we hope to get momentum."