With Dani Pedrosa, the more precise radiographs of the races and their elements are back and, as soon as he got off the bike and received the congratulations of his team, the Spaniard analyzed the intense sensations experienced on his favorite circuit point by point.
From the ‘lap of honour’ introduced this year which saw riders hopping onto a bus to get close to the fans, to the unanimous applause of his rivals on the track to a stunning performance, the three-times world champion has shown himself grateful as rarely before, and happy with the experience of his return as a guest or wild card.
“I’m giving this weekend a 10, because everything went very well. When I got back on the bus, I was almost in tears. The welcome was incredible, both from the fans and from the other riders. I understand that it’s difficult to race and support a rival , but it was very nice of them,” summed up Pedrosa, who at 37 has demonstrated a speed superior to that of many other riders, although it is worth noting the amount of laps he did in Jerez thanks to his position of test driver.
“It was the best weekend in KTM’s history. Jack Miller and Brad Binder got on the podium twice. The speed was there and we immediately entered Q2”, added the Spaniard, who will be back on track on Monday for the collective test always scheduled on the Andalusian circuit.
Pedrosa, who started sixth and finished seventh, preferred to stay out of trouble and tried to ride alone as much as possible, in order not to repeat the story of last time, in Austria, where he was involved in an accident which had forced the Race Direction to display the red flag.
Dani Pedrosa, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“I like to do things well, and behind me I have a super team and a great brand. We have gained speed over time, analyzing our weaknesses, eliminating aspects that were ingrained and difficult to change. This has given us an advantage this ‘year,” said the number 26 driver, initially reluctant to race again this year. “I’m very happy with what we’ve already done, but we have to leave room for the youngsters. If I have to race at Misano because we have to continue developing the bike, then we’ll evaluate it. But at the moment I don’t know”, admitted the rider from Castellar del Valles.
As for his evolution since Friday, the first day he took to the track, Pedrosa recognized that the years are unforgiving, both in terms of the explosiveness that certain moments require, and in terms of energy levels. “Over the years you’ve become much more rusty than the youngsters. In the various sessions I’ve done, I’ve always lost positions. On Friday I was much fresher, more awake. On Saturday I was a little duller and today I noticed that I didn’t have the spark I had on the first day,” said the KTM rider, who finished just 42 thousandths of a second behind sixth-placed Luca Marini.
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