Pedrosa: Victory was always unlikely

The Honda rider had been pessimistic after taking pole at Jerez yesterday, insisting he did not have the pace to stay in front over a race distance.

But he led until the final lap today, when Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo overtook him following a long dice.

"First of all, I didn't even think I would be able to be at the front the whole race," said Pedrosa.

"I was nervous before the race because I didn't know if I could really stay there.

"Yesterday I did a good lap time in qualifying but I knew for the rhythm it was difficult for us. I was surprised to be up there."

Pedrosa said he was aware that Lorenzo was closing fast and would be hard to resist.

"In the last 10 laps I saw that Lorenzo was coming five tenths quicker than [Valentino] Rossi and me, and I just thought 'hmm, this is going to be tight...'" he said.

"By the end he became too strong. I tried to hold him back but it wasn't possible."

He insisted he was still happy with the result as his performance had been so much stronger than at Losail, where he finished a muted seventh.

"Okay, second place [and losing the lead] with half a lap [to go] is not the best but of course compared to Qatar it's a great result," Pedrosa maintained.