Tech 3 overjoyed with double top six

Edwards lost ground early on before gaining several positions in the closing stages, while Toseland also impressed with some determined passing to come through from outside the top ten.

"I am very pleased with today and I couldn't have asked for more from Colin and James," Poncharal said. "I think honestly today fifth and sixth were the best results we could have reached."

He was particularly pleased for Toseland, who has had some difficult races since bursting onto the MotoGP scene with a pair of top six finishes in his first two Grands Prix.

"I'm even happier about James because he's had some problems in the last couple of races," said Poncharal. "We never lost confidence in him because he is so motivated and you could see he was not happy with his results.

"We saw his fighting spirit at the start of the race and his very strong point, which is his aggressive passing, came to the fore again."

Toseland lost places at the start while jostling with Shinya Nakano, and was pleased that he was able to recover positions without getting embroiled in any tangles like the one that forced him out of the French GP.

"I kept my calm because I knew it was a long race and I didn't want to make the same mistake as I did in Le Mans," said Toseland. "I just had to settle down and I didn't do anything stupid.

"It's nice to follow Colin home on the same package. You can tell he has got a lot of experience on these bikes and his bike doesn't do move so much. I feel like I'm wrestling mine a bit too much but I'm still learning.

"I rode hard in that race and if I was riding this hard and finishing fourteenth my morale would be seriously dented, but when I'm riding really well and the package is working well, I'm back in the top six again and this is where I need to be."

Edwards was delighted with fifth given that he has always struggled at Mugello in the past.

"I'm happier with fifth here than I was with third in Le Mans to be honest," he said. "I expected to win at Le Mans, but my best result here has been a ninth. I'm not a guy that likes fifth, but on my biggest bogey track ever I'll take it."

Poncharal added that the double top six at Mugello left his team full of confidence for the rest of the season.

"We leave Mugello with a really strong and positive spirit," he said.

"Now we are third in the team championship, which is a great achievement for all of the guys. Only two factory teams are in front of us and this is very encouraging for us because we had a lot of pressure here."