Pedrosa rues errors in Rossi battle

The title rivals had a huge mid-race dice for the podium positions behind dominant winner Casey Stoner, but Rossi came out on top after Pedrosa lost ground with an error at the Esses. The result meant that Rossi was able to stretch his championship lead to 11 points.

Pedrosa was relatively satisfied with third place having only qualified ninth, but admitted to being frustrated that he had let Rossi escape.

"It wasn't a bad result - of course I was pushing for second, but in the end I couldn't make it," he said.

"I started from behind, did a good start but wasn't able to get through in the first corner, so then I had to get through as soon as possible because Casey and Valentino were first and second.

"When I got to Valentino, I tried to pass him but I made a mistake in the chicane and after this I started to make more mistakes. I lost Valentino and the opportunity to fight with him in the last laps.

"Of course this third position is good considering the results on Friday and Saturday, but we have to fight hard in the next race."

The Spaniard reported no problems with the after-effects of his testing crash last week, when he had landed heavily on his back and shoulders after a high-side at Barcelona.

"It hurt sometimes, but it was not a big feeling so it seems to be getting better and better," Pedrosa said. "I also crashed on Friday, but it seems to be okay."

Pedrosa continued to run Honda's conventional engine at Donington Park while his teammate Nicky Hayden switched to the new pneumatic-valve engine, but with Hayden only finishing seventh, Pedrosa said he was in no hurry to change his package.

"It looks like the bike is not going so badly, so for the moment I will keep my bike," he said. "But we will see how it goes in the next races."