Marc Marquez revealed his front tyre was "completely destroyed" after guiding his Honda to a fourth-consecutive victory at the Grand Prix of the Americas on Sunday.
Marquez extended his lead atop the MotoGP standings as the two-time world champion added to his triumph at last week's Argentina Grand Prix.
The Spaniard finished ahead of countryman Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone, while Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa all crashed out in Austin.
Marquez said tyre-supplier Michelin helped in his choice to chose a soft front, going against the rest of his rivals, and revealed he pushed as hard as he could early in the race because he was unsure how long the rubber might last.
"During warm-up I tried a different front tyre [the medium], the same as everybody was using, but I didn't feel good," Marquez said after the race.
"I want to thank the Michelin guys because they helped me to make the decision [to use the soft]. Until lap 12 the tyre was perfect but after the race it was completely destroyed.
"I knew it would be on the limit, but I try to use this potential in beginning of the race, try to open this gap.
"I kept pushing during all the laps because I didn't know when the drop would arrive. When there were five laps to go, I start to feel a big close feeling at the front."
The 23-year-old holds a 21-point gap over defending champion Lorenzo in the championship standings but is not getting carried away by his early good form.
"Of course I’m happy with this advantage that we have. Okay, it's only the third race, but we already have 21 points so this is really important for me and the team.
"The other riders make a few mistakes, but you must be there – and now in Europe we will see, because Jorge will be really strong.
"But we will try to manage the well this distance in the championship, and see which circuits we can be fast and which ones we need to take points."
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