Pedrosa: I was one lap too late

Dani Pedrosa admits he was ‘one lap too late’ when it came to switching bikes in the flag-to-flag race at Brno, but the Repsol Honda rider otherwise had few complaints after finishing as the runner-up.

Pedrosa completed a one-two for Honda behind Marc Marquez and is now seven points behind Valentino Rossi in fourth place in the championship and 31 behind title pacesetter Marquez.

The 31-year-old, who started from third place on the front row, says his decision to remain on the circuit for one more lap before changing to slicks at the end of lap three left him with a heavy workload as he battled his way through the pack.

“Always after it is more after to see these things but I was expecting this kind of race – wet to dry –after the rain in Moto2. It was raining all day, stopping and then raining again, so I thought that it would be like this for the race,” said Pedrosa.

“When I was on the grid I thought it would be raining again after but then on the warm-up lap I can see ‘no, it’s going to be clear’. I was focused on the first laps, I was trying not to lose too much the pack, but I was surprised how quick the track dried out this time.

“Normally it would take much longer, so I was thinking to come in but I decided to pass one more time. Unfortunately it was one lap too late I guess, for having a more easy race on the slicks,” he added.

“Anyway I’m happy because overall I normally struggle in this kind of race and I was quite fast out of the box with the slicks. I ran a good pace after, so all weekend [I was] competitive so this is a good thing for me, for my team, so very positive about the result also. The bike and the tyres were working well, so I’m quite happy with the weekend overall.”

Pedrosa felt much stronger at Brno following a two-day test at the circuit during the summer break, which he says was the ‘right strategy’ by Honda.

“I think the strategy of the team was right to be here testing because it’s important when you have a big break that you keep the rhythm. It was good to have the setting for the bike, especially for this track, but for sure I think we did some improvements here and there with little parts that can help us for the next races,” he said.

“I’m feeling more comfortable now, more strong, and this is positive looking to the second half and the important thing now is to keep the momentum.”

The 31-year-old made rapid ground as he charged through the field to slot into second place but Pedrosa revealed he did not initially have a good feeling with the RCV after changing to the slick tyres.

“When I changed to slicks, I don’t know why but the feeling with the bike was a little bit strange. I didn’t have the super feeling on the bike at this time. At the beginning of the laps I was not pushing very strong and I was catching the guys in the front, but obviously my pace already from the practice was much faster than they guys I was overtaking and this is one reason.

“The other reason [rapid progress] is just I have more momentum at this time but in the early stage, the important part was to be fast because you need to go with the tyre temperature and you need to take the rhythm until maybe 12 laps to go. I just arrive to the group and passed them in one lap.

“Sometimes I hesitate more because I don’t have the correct feeling but this time I was able to be strong in this period of the race.”