Relations between Dani Pedrosa and his MotoGP teammates are never the closest in MotoGP, with the single-minded Spaniard intensely focused on his own work. Such was the case with Nicky Hayden alongside him in the Repsol Honda outfit, and continues with a wall still in place to separate him and Andrea Dovizioso in 2009.
Unhappy with ninth place in the British Grand Prix, Pedrosa saw a MotoGP teammate win a race for the first time in three seasons when Dovizioso crossed the line at Donington Park, subsequently praising his Italian colleague’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 said after the race, which was an altogether tougher ride for him onboard the RC212V.
“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,” added the rider fastest in both Free Practice sessions 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 rider had run a medium front tyre on the slippery asphalt, eager to avoid the rubber problems that plagued him in Sachsenring and with one eye on an advantage should the rain have got heavier. The gamble did not pay off, but he continues to be motivated for the remainder of the season after some top 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,” concluded the fourth-placed rider in the overall standings.
Source: http://www.motogp.com