With hindsight, and by reviewing the images, we end up being convinced that Dani Pedrosa could have done even better during his free ride at the San Marino Grand Prix on a KTM RC16 with a new carbon frame. In the lead in all the practice sessions, in the leading group during qualifying, he was brilliant in the race, coming very close to the podium. Yes but, at the same time, as always, he chose to come up against Pecco Bagnaia, World Champion and title contender, avoiding any attack and other incisive maneuvers which have flourished in MotoGP in recent times with the new format. Was he on restraint or at his maximum? The answer is given by his chief engineer…
His name is Estéban Garcia and he has long been in the shadow of Maverick Vinales before packing your bags at KTM. Here he is now attached to the test department, which would seem like a downgrade for other brands, but here, in Mattighofen, it is a question of working with Dani Pedrosa. A real requirement that the Spanish defines as follows: “ he is a perfectionist and so am I. With Dani you learn a lot and it's a responsibility to be with him in the box, because we must be on an equal footing ».
« He won't, but Dani Pedrosa has the driving skills to run a full season »
He adds : " with Dani everything is possible. We had doubts, because the Italian riders know the track well and it is a Ducati track. He won't do it, but he has the driving level to run a full season ».
Everything is possible ? Up to certain limits that he imposed on himself. Because the revelation arrives: “ we came here to test certain pieces and it's not the best thing to be the protagonist of an incident causing another driver to crash. To overtake in MotoGP, especially someone like Pecco who brakes very late and who has a Ducati which brakes very well, he would have had to count on him and we weren't there for that ».
Then yes, Dani Pedrosa could have done much better... Was his restraint at least worth it? “ We liked the new chassis and we saw that from Dani's results. However, I think even with the previous chassis it would have achieved the same results » concludes Estéban Garcia on AS. Definitely...
