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Pedrosa explains root cause of nightmare Misano race

Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has explained that an inability to heat up his tyres in the wet was responsible for his nightmare Misano MotoGP outing.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Scott Redding, Pramac Racing, Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

The Spaniard toiled to his worst finish of the year in the tricky conditions, plummeting from seventh on the grid to 22nd in five laps and lapping some five seconds off the pace. 

Pedrosa was even passed late in the race by Honda stablemate Cal Crutchlow, who had crashed in the early laps, and was on for a solitary point for 15th until Johann Zarco running out of fuel promoted him to 14th at the finish line.

Speaking afterwards, Pedrosa – who is the lightest rider on the grid at only 51kg - said that an inability to get his tyres up to the correct operating window was to blame for his chronic lack of pace.

He added that the situation improved late in the race when conditions were slightly improved, his fastest lap coming on lap 25 of 28.

“Tyre temperature for me today was under the limit,” explained Pedrosa. “I crashed this morning and then I tried in the race to be there but I was going [1m]54s because [I had] zero grip.

“I could not [lean the bike], I could not do anything on the bike, I was almost crashing in every corner.

“Just at the end of the race, when it stopped raining and it was like drying up a little bit or getting much less water, suddenly I touched the limit, and then I started to have some temperature. I finished lapping [1m]49, 48-high, instead of 54.

“It is just a matter of being in the temperature [window]. A lot of riders would say at the end it was the limit, not enough water.

“But for me it was the opposite, it's when I started to have some grip.”

"My size is not an advantage"

Pedrosa revealed his Repsol Honda team even added weight to his bike in a bid to help the Spaniard in the wet conditions for the race, but this failed to help matters.

“We put weight on the bike today from warm-up to the race, to simulate [that] I was heavier, but you need to go to the minimum of the tyre,” added Pedrosa.

“The big riders, they have more feeling in these situations and they will complain in the other part of the window [when the track is drier]. 

“But sure, today nobody will tell you, ah, ‘Dani has an advantage.’ So you can see that the disadvantage [of being light] is bigger than the advantage.”

Additional reporting by Oriol Puidgemont

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