Alex de Angelis hopes his first podium at Indianapolis today will help him to stay in MotoGP next season.
The San Marino rider will not be retained by Gresini next year after the team confirmed it has signed Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli for 2010. He says he is talking to other teams and is still looking to arrange a deal to keep him in the series.
"I don't know what I will do next year," de Angelis told Italia1 television. "We've spoken with so many teams: the conditions exist but are very complicated, so I think understanding what's the right solution is still a long way away. There's no point hiding, however, that I'd like to stay in MotoGP."
After capitalising on falls by Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi, de Angelis finished second at Indy on Sunday -- his fourth consecutive top eight result.
"It's a great satisfaction," he said. "I started not very well and lost a lot of time with Edwards at the beginning. Then I overtook him, went with my pace, and saw the others were struggling. I tried not to make mistakes and to push.
"It was a difficult and complex race, however it's great. Valentino crashed and I'm sorry for him, but he's given back to me what he snatched from me by a whisker.
"I come from five positive races, I've always improved and we've found the ideal set-up for this bike. We struggled a lot at the beginning [of the season] but I've never stopped believing in myself - and the same goes for the guys working with me. So with this result I want to thank them because at difficult times you can feel who really is with you and who isn't."