MotoGP news
Pedrosa ready to race at home
30 April 2009Dani Pedrosa is savouring his trip to Jerez this weekend as the championship moves into Europe for the first time in 2009. The Spaniard impressed at Motegi last weekend by riding successfully to a podium finish despite still recovering from injuries worsened by a pre-season accident in Qatar.
|
|
Barcelona's Pedrosa currently lies fifth in the championship, and one point behind team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, as the Honda pairing now targets the top three. "It was great to get such an encouraging result in Japan right before we go to Jerez," Pedrosa said, who missed the final winter test in Spain due to his injuries. "Now we have some momentum which we must try to maintain. Still, despite getting on the podium at Motegi, which I was really pleased with, we must not kid ourselves that we are fully competitive just yet."
 |
| Pedrosa made the rostrum in Japan last Sunday |
23-year-old Dani remains realistic with the knowledge that he mainly struggled in practice on the lead up to the race last time out, but is looking forward to seeing his home supporters after winning in Jerez last year. "The fans are so passionate and give me and all the Spanish riders incredible support," he continued. "I like the Jerez track and have had some great moments there. Having got that result in Motegi, and now that my physical condition is improving, I hope I can give the fans and the team something to celebrate this weekend."
His team-mate is also aware of the performance deficit from Honda to leaders Yamaha and Ducati, but has every confidence in his team. "At Motegi we proved that we can fight hard for the whole race, giving 110 per cent effort," Dovizioso said. "I was happy about the race result in Japan because we succeeded in closing the gap to first place, but we still have to work to improve the machine package."
The Italian rounded out the top five in the Japanese Grand Prix but still remains 16 points behind third-placed Stoner in the standings, and 19 behind leader Lorenzo. "In Japan we couldn't actually do any development work on the bike because of the bad weather conditions, which affected most of the sessions," he continued. "The Jerez circuit is not one of my favourite tracks, but I will still give it my all this weekend; the atmosphere is always incredible - there are so many spectators and they have a great passion for bikes, so it's always a great experience to race in front of them. The Spanish Grand Prix is also the home Grand Prix for Repsol (title sponsor of the team), so I'll be doing my best to get a good result for them too."
more news
- 07 Nov.
- 06 Nov.
- 05 Nov.
- 04 Nov.
- 03 Nov.
- 27 Oct.
- 25 Oct.
- 24 Oct.
- 23 Oct.
- 22 Oct.
- 21 Oct.
- 20 Oct.