Today at Brno, the season-long winning streak of MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez came to an end when he finished off the podium while Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa took the victory.

Marquez started brightly but then a lack of rear grip and spinning under accleration saw him slide back to fourth, unable to do anything about the pace of Pedrosa, nor the two Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

But the young Spaniard said he feels a lot of pressure is off now that it is impossible for him to win all 18 races in a season.

“Today we were not ready to win the race. The biggest problem where I lose more was the acceleration. It was because I was spinning a lot and the acceleration was not so good and then I lose too much. The I try to improve in the brake point, for one, two laps was ok but all the race like, I nearly crash three times, then I relax a little bit,” said Marquez, speaking at the track.

“It is the first time where I finish a MotoGP race and I’m not on the podium. OK, I was ten seconds behind, if I push I finish maybe seven seconds. The points are the same.

“Dani and Jorge, their rhythm was so high and for that reason I wasn’t able to follow them. I did the same rhythm, more or less, like in FP4 but they were faster. From the beginning of the weekend I did feel sometimes I was not ready but I didn’t feel like I was far away like that. It’s like that sometimes. Today I didn’t feel perfect on the bike.

“We knew in the first part of the race we could be competitive, the question mark was the second part. It wasn't down to a mistake by me or by the team, it was simply that we didn't have the same feeling as on other Sundays. In a way it's taken a weight off my shoulders, as now people won't be asking me if I can win every race anymore.

“It was also important that we were able to focus on staying in fourth, even though it was tough not to be fighting for the win; we took 13 points that are important for the World Championship and we have a big advantage. What matters is who wins the title - not who wins the most races.”