Pedrosa 'too far' as podium drought continues

Dani Pedrosa has just six more chances to sign off his MotoGP career with a race win in every season since 2002.

But it looks like a tall order at present, with the Spaniard yet to grace the podium in the twelve races so far this year - his longest rostrum drought in grand prix.

Pedrosa 'too far' as podium drought continues

Dani Pedrosa has just six more chances to sign off his MotoGP career with a race win in every season since 2002.

But it looks like a tall order at present, with the Spaniard yet to grace the podium in the twelve races so far this year - his longest rostrum drought in grand prix.

So what has gone wrong for the Repsol Honda rider, and what does he need to return to the front?

The answer, according to Pedrosa, is "corner speed and acceleration, it goes together".

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Speaking after a sixth-place finish in Sunday's Misano race, the 54-time grand prix winner explained:

"If I compare to the Yamahas or the Suzukis or some other Hondas, I still need a better setting to find my good corner speed.

"That's pretty much what we are looking for every weekend, but it seems like we are not able to find the right balance that I need to make my riding more effective.

"For me, we are too far from the top group, which is my aim. [At Misano] in the race I can see the front group is lapping maybe 0.7 faster, in a short track, which is too much.

"For me, it doesn't matter what track we are at, the [problem] is the setting of the bike… So we'll see [at Aragon] if we are changing something in the correct way."

Pedrosa, now rumoured to have concluded a deal to become a KTM test rider next season, also spoke about the supremacy of the factory Ducatis, which have won the last three races with Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso.

"It's true that Ducati for some reason has an extra advantage for some reason at this moment. The bike is super-fast, especially when they put the bike straight. It's clearly a huge thing over the rest," he said.

Despite Ducati's current form, Pedrosa's team-mate Marc Marquez holds a 67-point title lead after five wins during the opening nine rounds.

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