Pedrosa content with podium return

Off the rostrum for the past five races, Dani Pedrosa claimed third in the A-Style Grand Prix of Japan despite the best intentions of Jorge Lorenzo. The Repsol Honda rider held off his rival at the death, with teammate Nicky Hayden just one place down on the Spanish duo.

Dani Pedrosa - Third

`Third place was not so bad today, though of course I tried to be faster. I have had some difficult races recently and some injuries, so it was a good feeling to be competitive again. I wasn´t so fast at the beginning of the race, I expected to be faster. Later on I was able to improve my pace, my times got better lap by lap, so I am happy about that. My pitboard told me that Lorenzo was coming, I got `plus zero', ‘plus zero', ‘plus zero'. I expected him to get faster because he was chasing me. On the last lap he touched me but I was able to stay on the bike. My thanks to Honda and to Bridgestone. Also congratulations to Valentino, he rode a great race.´

Nicky Hayden - Fifth

`I got a pretty good start and was certainly in the mix there for a couple of laps but they just had a little bit more pace everywhere. I tried to make up for it a few times on the brakes, but I just didn´t have the pace. I knew it wasn´t going to be easy, but I had high expectations, I thought maybe we could get in there and find something extra for the race. We rode about as hard as we could and it got harder as the tyres went away. That pack was coming for me, I just tried to not make any mistakes, keep my rhythm and hold them off. I knew there was a couple of guys chasing but I didn´t know there was that many coming for me. The bandana I wore on the grid, some fan gave it to me yesterday. I wore it for qualifying and got on the front row, so I figured, try it again. Congratulations to Valentino. I know what it takes to win one and it takes a bad dude to win eight of them. Much respect.´