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Dealings between Dani Pedrosa and his colleagues are not always the closest in motor racing, with the dedicated Spaniard
deeply concentrated on his own work. This was also the case with Nicky Hayden next to him in the Honda garb, and carries on
with a wall still in place to divide him and Andrea Dovizioso this year.
Disappointed with a ninth placing in the
British Grand Prix, Pedrosa saw a colleague win an event for the very first occassion in 3 seasons when Dovizioso passed the
line at Donington Park, afterwards congratulating his Italian team mate’s performance.
”First I have
to congratulate Andrea on his win because he rode a great race from beginning to end in very difficult conditions,”
Pedrosa states following the race.
“For me, the result today is obviously disappointing and the team because
I have been fast all weekend and I couldn’t keep that up during the race,” explains the competitor quickest in
both Free Practice gatherings in the Midlands.
“At the beginning I was feeling good on the Bridgestone slicks
and was able to judge my pace well according to the conditions. As the rain came however, I couldn’t maintain the temperature
in the tyres and when this happens the grip really goes away and I wasn’t able to control the bike as I wanted. On the
grid I was sure my tyre choice was correct, but with 10 laps to go I thought that maybe I should go into the pits and change
to wets, but it wasn’t worth losing 20 seconds for the bike change because the lap times of the riders on the wet tyres
were the same as the times on slicks.”
The Repsol Honda competitor had run a medium front wheel on the wet
surface, keen to elude the rubber issues that concerned him in Sachsenring and with one focus on a benefit should the rain
have increased. The risk did not pay off, however he continues to be excited for the rest of the year after some excellent
results.
“It was a frustrating race in strange conditions, but we’ll still have confidence going into
the next race in Brno because we’ve been making progress recently and I’m feeling strong on the bike,” he
explains placing fourth in the overall ratings.
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