MotoGP: Tyre issues slow Pedrosa’s charge

Published: 04 July 2017 Updated: 04 July 2017

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Dani Pedrosa’s hopes of finishing higher than third in this year’s German Grand Prix were brought to a sudden halt during Sunday’s race at the Sachsenring, when unexpected tyre wear came into play and meant that the Repsol Honda rider was forced to settle for the final podium spot behind Marc Marquez and Jonas Folger.

The Spaniard was dicing with the pair in front in the early stages of the race, but as his issues presented themselves, he was forced to drop back out of contention for the win, eventually settling for a lonely third place behind Folger and ahead of Maverick Viñales.

“I’m happy enough with this podium. We worked very well this weekend, trying to manage every situation. In the race I felt really strong in the first laps and was able to stay close to Marc. Then I started to lose grip in the rear tyre, but I thought ‘Okay, no problem; it’s going to be a long race and it’s normal to lose some grip.’

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“But when Jonas passed me, I tried to follow and I couldn’t keep contact. I tried to manage but when I felt the tyre was spinning too much I settled for a podium. I expected to be a little bit stronger but all in all it was a positive result, as we gathered some good points for the championship.”

And, with tests scheduled at Brno during the long summer break as well as a chance to recharge the batteries for him and his team, he’s looking forward to coming back strong after an already-impressive first half of the 2017 season.

“I feel positive, we have two days to test during the summer, and we’ll work on the areas we know we must improve, especially to make the tyres work well no matter the conditions in order to be more consistent in the second part of the championship.”

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By Simon Patterson

MotoGP and road racing reporter, photographer, videographer