Ecstar Suzuki's Alex Rins pushed hard early on in yesterdya's Buriram MotoGP and ate up his tyres much to stay with the lead pack at the end of the race.

Rins scythed his way through from the fourth row to get into the podium pack as the laps counted down but had just used up too much of his hard Michelin to keep pace as the laptimes dropped towards the chequered flag.

“I pushed a lot from the beginning, to try to reduce the gap with the first group, and I lost a lot of time fighting with other riders, not with Pedrosa, but the others," said Rins.

“Anyway, I think I pushed a lot in the beginning and I destroyed a little the tyres, and then I was trying to keep my pace, trying to be there, fifth, sixth with Zarco, but finally sixth, so I think it was a good race.

"I think the strong point for us today on track was the braking area. We lost a lot of time in the beginning, because fighting with Andrea, Petrucci, Miller, we lost a lot of time. But anyway, I think we did a great race.”