Pedrosa fourth in MotoGP season opener

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) crossed the line 3.2 seconds behind his team-mate in fourth place.

The race was won by reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, ahead of his Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi.

Marquez and Pedrosa spent much of the race together, chasing Lorenzo who led from start to finish. Marquez – who afterwards revealed that he was more nervous than ever before the race – made his move on his team-mate with six laps of the 22 laps remaining. Three laps later it was Marquez’s turn to come under pressure as Rossi came past, having made up for a couple of mistakes he had made in the early stages. The pair stayed locked together during the final few laps, providing a thrilling climax to the race. Marquez refused to give in and fought with his more experienced rival all the way to the finish. At the flag he was just 0.221 seconds behind Rossi. It was a remarkable performance from a rider with zero race experience in the premier class.

Pedrosa came into the race following a strong qualifying performance which followed a difficult first two days of practice. The Spaniard had worked with his crew to fix a lack of rear grip but still struggled with the issue during the race. He rode as hard as he knows how but this time he didn’t have the grip he required to match his rivals.

The MotoGP World Championship continues with the Grand Prix of the Americas at the new COTA circuit in Austin, Texas, on April 21.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 4th

“Today’s race was good, in part. I rode strongly and at a good level, although I had to slide around a lot during the entire race to combat a lack of rear grip. I saw from the opening lap that Lorenzo was going much faster and I tried to keep my position, because I knew that in the corners the traction issue came into play. I tried as hard as I could to keep my position, but then Rossi came through at a blistering pace and, to tell the truth, I could not stop him. I did all that I could, but it was not enough. Maybe there was a set-up issue with the rear, because I had problems with it all weekend and we did not have enough grip tonight. In the end I was off the podium, which is a shame considering that we had some good preseason tests and that the set-up was good in those tests. For some reason, it just did not work for us tonight.”