Pedrosa rues late-race mistakes that cost shot at victory

Pedrosa had struggled for pace in relation to leaders Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez this weekend, but closed right up to make the final laps a three-way fight for victory.

He got ahead of Marquez with a lap and a half remaining, but was unable to make the pass stick.

“I ran maybe too hot into the corner, I was on the limit of the front so I ran wide,” said Pedrosa.

“Marc immediately took the place, and then in the last lap unfortunately in Turn 2 I miss the gear, and I lost touch and wasn’t able to be close again to make a move.”

Had both Hondas passed Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi would have claimed the title.

Struggling for grip

Pedrosa admitted that he struggled for pace all weekend on his Repsol Honda, but believes he made a big step forward in the closing stages of the race.

“My problem was both tyres, I had not got a good feeling on the bike this weekend,” said Pedrosa. “I was struggling to really match the laptimes [of Lorenzo and Marquez].

“I was trying not to lose too much gap at the beginning [of the race] on full tanks, I was getting bottoming on the front, and I couldn’t really control it – so I was trying to save under braking. So I lost touch quite a bit.

“Towards the end I just could go more strong on braking, but at the same time I’d lost a lot of grip. I was recovering, and I enjoyed this part of the race because I learned many things about myself in this race.

“I was able to do things better – not faster but better – and this made me faster. At the same moment, they were dropping [their pace] and I could catch. I tried to attack immediately, and I saw two laps [to go] on the boards and I thought I was running out of time.

 “I’m just hoping next year can be better for me, and I can be champion.”