Casey Stoner said he would leave Indianapolis disappointed despite salvaging fourth place while riding with torn ligaments and a fractured ankle.
The MotoGP champion sustained the injuries in a huge qualifying crash, and his participation in the race was in doubt until Sunday morning. Stoner went on to fight for a podium finish, but admitted he was more frustrated at the thought of what he would have achieved without the crash than he was pleased to still get a result.
"I'm definitely disappointed with how the weekend went," said Stoner. "We showed that we certainly had the pace for pole position and fight for the win."
The Honda ultimately was ultimately defeated by Andrea Dovizioso in their battle for third, and Stoner acknowledged that his injuries had slowed him down.
"At the end of the race it was almost impossible to maintain the pace," he said. "The painkillers I took to dull the pain gradually wore off at around the halfway point and as I was compensating for my injury with the other side of my body, I simply had no energy left.
"It was frustrating to give up the podium position to Andrea but we did everything we could and at least I was able to ride and take some points."