The Repsol Honda rider had started his weekend on a good pace, but he was unable to find the necessary improvements in order to fight for the podium.
Arriving at the Barcelona Grand Prix, Dani Pedrosa believed he could fight in front. After reassuring himself on Friday, he started his Saturday on the same momentum, but unfortunately had to give up in qualifying where he could not do better than eleventh.
After a good start to the race, he managed to move up to fifth place, but was unable to follow the leading group due to grip problems. Failure to make the podium makes 2018 the worst start to the Spanish rider's career since his first year in 125cc in 2001.
He was therefore inevitably disappointed when he returned to the box: “I think we did a good job looking at the weekend, because starting eleventh and finishing fifth is a nice comeback. Of course, we cannot be satisfied with this. The feeling wasn't there and I struggled a lot with the lack of grip during the race. The drivers I was fighting with could overtake me, especially in the middle and out of corners. I could have been a little stronger when braking, but my times ended up being a little slower. Cal passed me at the end, and Viñales could have done the same, but I managed to keep him behind me on the last lap. Tomorrow we are doing a test and I hope we will be able to resolve this problem in order to be fast in the next races. »
Race ranking:
1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati 165.6 40'13.566
2 20 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 165.3 +4.479
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 165.2 +6.098
4 13 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL Honda 164.9 +9.805
5 11 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 164.9 +10.640
6 10 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 164.8 +10.798
7 9 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 164.7 +13.432
8 8 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 164.6 +15.055
9 7 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team Ducati 164.1 +22.057
10 6 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 163.9 +24.141
11 5 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 163.1 +36.560
12 4 45 Scott REDDING GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 163.0 +38.229
13 3 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Angel Nieto Team Ducati 160.2 +1'21.526
14 2 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 139.1 3 Tours
Unclassified
55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 164.3 4 Tours
53 Tito RABAT SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 164.3 6 Tours
43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 164.3 7 Tours
38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 162.8 11 Tours
30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda 162.8 11 Tours
42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 156.9 13 Tours
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 164.8 16 Tours
10 Xavier SIMEON BEL Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 160.4 17 Tours
41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 161.1 20 Tours
12 Thomas LUTHI SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 159.1 21 Tours
50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 155.5 22 Tours
Did not finish the 1st round
36 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 0 Tour
