MotoGP: Pedrosa charge halted by two-part race

Dani Pedrosa’s hopes of turning around a disastrous weekend in Assen were brought to a premature end when Sunday’s race was red flagged and restarted, halting a charge that had saw the Spaniard come from 16^th on the grid top as high as fifth.

Making the most of his silky smooth style in treacherous conditions, he was able to cut through the field – until the race was stopped after fourteen laps completed.

“It’s been a pretty tough weekend but races like that are a lottery. In the first race it seemed that the strategy of running the soft tyre had gone well. At first, when the track was drying, I went slowly, but when it started to rain I upped my pace very quickly while others were at a disadvantage. However, that was when the Race Direction decided to stop the race.”

And, one of a number of riders to be caught out by the soft tyre in the second running of the race, he quickly went from zero to hero and back again.

“I felt unlucky, because it turned out that thinking ahead or trying to pick a different strategy wasn’t beneficial. In the second race I crashed on the first lap, because I had a new rear tyre without too much grip. It has been a difficult Grand Prix but we will try to find better solutions for the next race and regain our feeling in order to go faster.”