Monster Yamaha's Colin Edwards has said is happy to be the best rider in the rest of the MotoGP field, finishing as the first privateer bike home behind the "top four riders in the world".

Edwards, who will remain with the Tech3 squad and have fellow Texan Ben Spies as a team-mate, says he rode the strongest race possible in Estoril and is now targeting fifth in the championship.

“Like I said yesterday, if you're the next best rider behind the top four in the world then you've done a good job and I rode the strongest race I could today," said the likeable American.

"I got a good start but we've been fighting some front-end movement all weekend and I knew early on I wasn't going to be able to go with Valentino (Rossi) in front of me. The tyres worked great but we were just missing something on the set-up that meant even though Valentino was struggling a little bit, I couldn't really put any pressure on him.

"As much as I couldn't comfortably stay with the four guys in front, it was pretty easy for me to run a pace that meant I could pull away from the group behind me. Once I'd got a comfortable gap it was just a case of staying consistent to make sure I didn't give anybody a chance of catching me.
 
"I got a few more points back on Dovizioso for fifth in the championship and that is a good reward for the all effort my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 have put in.We've got three races to go and I'll be giving it my all as always because I really want that fifth spot in the championship.”