Pedrosa has “mixed feelings” after Portugal race
Added on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Pedrosa has “mixed feelings” after Portugal race
Dani Pedrosa returned to the MotoGP championship this past weekend, after missing the last three races due to a fractured collarbone, but has “mixed feelings” over his performance on the Estoril circuit.
Pedrosa, who rides for the Repsol Honda team, injured himself four weeks ago and is still recovering but still managed to complete the race, finishing eighth overall.
The 25-year-old fought his way from 12th on the grid up to 5th place at one stage and even managed to match the pace of the race winner, Jorge Lorenzo, but fell back to finish eighth in the Portuguese race as the effects of his injuries started to affect his performance.
Pedrosa reported the effects of fatigue, in his left arm, and said: “I have mixed feelings after this race. On one side the fact that I could finish 28 laps is good because from quite early in the race I didn’t know if it would be possible. On the other hand, I could have finished much higher up if I could have maintained the pace we had in the race.”
“On every lap I was feeling more tired and I couldn’t maintain the 1’39.5 laps. With ten laps to go I couldn’t keep pushing and I dropped back quite a lot.” he went on.
Pedrosa’s eighth place finish awarded him a precious eight points, which could be the result he needs to grasp the runner-up place in the championship. The 25-year-old Spaniard said that he would be checking in with the doctor and getting some much needed rest over the three days in the lead up to the final race of the season at Valencia.
He added: “In terms of the position in the Championship, I’m 19 points ahead and so I hope to hold on to second place.”
