Pedrosa: “I dream of being on the podium”

Dani Pedrosa had another huge and hilarious press conference at the San Marino Grand Prix. This time we’re going to talk about his incredible fourth place finish after battling with Bagnaha for the podium in the sprint race. In the history of sports, there are few examples of athletes retiring for a long time early, and in his case, he retired for five years and when he came back, he was at his best. On the motorcycle side, there have been clear failures like Spencer’s, but the story remains good for the Spaniard, who is still ready to race if he wants to, almost 38 years old. Today it was the best KTM, just 190 thousandths away from the podium.

-Congratulations to the 4th placer who passed the 6th place sprint from Jerez. How did he manage to play alongside the best players after retirement? When I think of other sports, the example of Michael Jordan comes to mind, but not much else…

-(Smile). Damn, comparing me to Jordan is harsh, but thanks. I have no idea. I can’t answer this question personally because it would be too arrogant. The only thing I can tell you is that now that I’m this age, I do think about the day when Rossi won his last race. When did this happen?

-Assen 2017.

-How old?

– 38.

-Where’s Capirosi?

-What a test Danny is giving us now…

-(laugh). I mean, he retired pretty late, too.

-Biagi became SBK champion after turning 40 years old.

-Yes. At that time, six or seven years ago, as a young guy like me, I didn’t pay enough attention to their ability to win at that age. Now that I have it and I’m racing again and you’re ahead of guys in their early twenties, I really cherish it. Now I say running at that age, at that level, is harder than it was when you were younger. There is no doubt about this.

-In your case, you didn’t win, but you’ve been retired for five years…

-Yes. I can’t speak for myself, but I can speak for my experience at the time and the things I didn’t take seriously enough. Now, from the perspective of 37 years old, I realize that this is a very difficult thing to do. I think other drivers who will pursue a racing career in the future will understand this.

-Have you ever dreamed of getting on the podium? It has remained at 190 parts per thousand.

– Yes, I was on a motorcycle and I was thinking: “What if it was a podium.” (smile). Pecco, meanwhile, defended the curve phenomenon. My insides were moving as I braked, and braked very late. This leaves me with very little wiggle room. Maybe Binder, with his aggressiveness, would have had the motorcycle shoved into him anyway, but I didn’t feel that loose at that moment. I wasted a little time there and that’s how Binder caught us. Overall, very happy with the game.

-Do you think you can pull out that thorn tomorrow and get on the podium?

-(Smile). I don’t know, but we’ll try tomorrow.

-If you were not a test driver but a regular on the grid, would you try to overtake?

-Possibly, because you’re more used to overtaking, side-by-side rolling, and you don’t want to affect either of those.

-The impression from the outside is that the bikes are already there, but maybe what’s missing now is the rider…

-Well, the bike is improving, but something is missing. I rode a few laps with Pecco today and even though he wasn’t at his best because he was definitely having some problems, I was able to see him for a lot of laps and see his riding style and see how he uses his The bike or how he handles it, uses it, learns a lot and we can grab a little more compared to the Ducati. What other aspects have we done well? As for the pilot, no. I think Binder showed he was very good and maybe Jack is taking more pain at the moment until he finds his spot, maybe the bike. I think this bike could be improved upon further.

-Did you exceed your expectations, or do you secretly believe you could stay ahead throughout the weekend?

-No, to be honest, I didn’t know what to expect because we arrived after the race in Jerez, where active riders had been racing. In addition, we had to adapt to “qualifying”, which was very explosive and luckily we performed very well and we were on the second line, which has changed the start, the first lap and so on. If for some reason you get an official yellow flag, something like that that is out of your control, this could punish you and you no longer start on the second line and your game will change. So we are open to whatever happens. We never thought things would be this or that.

-What is your experience with the “Binder Arrivals” board? Do you know if he would attack you mercilessly like he does everyone else?

-Honestly, I saw the board, I knew Peco was slowing me down a little bit and I couldn’t get past him, the last time I saw the board with three laps left, that gave me +0.9. I said, “Okay, +0.9, our goal is 32, I think we’re good.” On the last lap, I crossed the finish line and told myself, “I better not look at the board, I don’t want to know what happened What.”

-Have you seen the first lap?

-I watched the replay. They told me he was going under the knife, yes.

-He has forgiven you.

-Oh my God.

-Did you have fun?

-Yeah, that’s cool.