What a performance today from Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa who stormed to victory at the 13th round of the MotoGP season at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in San Marino, Italy. It was his first win this season, a season he has struggled with, as he became the eighth different rider to win a MotoGP race this season.
Pedrosa strong throughout the weekend
Pedrosa has been strong all weekend; he has looked relaxed and comfortable throughout. He was second quickest during Free Practice 2 and went on to qualify ahead of the race in eighth. He got a great start and midway through the race he began his surge to the front.
First he overtook his teammate Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), then current MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) and then race leader Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) who was hoping for a win in front of his home crowd. Over several laps he consistently set a new lap record and now holds the crown for the quickest lap at Misano with a time of 1:31.868.
Good to see old Dani back
Overall… he was amazing and it is great to see the old Dani Pedrosa back. That is not to say that he isn’t there, he is always consistent and despite having a ‘bad season’ he is fourth in the championship; he may not be in the podium each round but he is up there collecting the points. Pedrosa is on 145 points, 17 behind Lorenzo.
Pedrosa didn’t expect to go so fast
Speaking after his victory he described the San Marino GP as “a great race” and spoke of how “it has been a long time since [he’s] had these feelings”. Pedrosa said that even he “was surprised by the performance that [he] put in today” as he admitted that he “hadn’t expected to go so fast”, praising the team he said, “We were fantastic!”
The Spaniard revealed that “the key was the pace” and described how he was “able to fight [his] way through, especially in the final part” and that “being consistent” allowed him to catch the front runners. He said, “It’s very nice for me to take a victory again after all the effort made by those who have been with me in this challenging season so far.” He was grateful to his family, team and fans.
Difficult season so far
Speaking about the season so far he said, “It has been very difficult” and getting this victory he was “very happy for all of them”. He described how he “enjoyed” himself today even though he revealed he was “a little worried about the choice of front tyre” because previously he hadn’t “used it in hot conditions”.
In the end he said they were “focused and everything went well” and he said that “it was an opportunity” that they had to “take advantage of”, and he felt that overall they “achieved a great victory”.
Awkward moment for Pedrosa after the race
It was great to see the performance from Pedrosa, although he did it in front of mainly Rossi fans who were all willing their Italian legend to do well, he received a great reception from them when he took to the podium… unlike some other Spanish riders we know. But then to top it all off, he got to sit in between two teammates at the press conference who had a clash of words… awkward! But Pedrosa… you did it!