Puig and Pedrosa give verdict on win

Dani Pedrosa´s start-to-finish win at the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya on Sunday was his second of the year and completed a hat-trick of home successes in recent months, following his triumph at Valencia last November, and his Jerez win in March.

Pedrosa rode a perfect race, setting a relentless pace that put him 0.658s ahead after the first lap and 7.2s ahead midway through the contest. The Catalan rider eased off later on but still crossed the line a comfortable 2.8s ahead of Valentino Rossi, to take his 29th career GP win and close the points gap on the Italian to just seven points.

Concisely summarising Pedrosa´s race, his mentor Alberto Puig stated, `He was fast at the beginning, he tried hard and he deserved it. He had a good race, he knew he had to be strong at the beginning and it was ok. We have had a good day, so we have to be grateful and happy.´

On Pedrosa´s chances of maintaining his great form at the forthcoming tightly packed series of races, Puig commented, `He is always full of confidence but then so are the other riders! He is fighting with the top riders in the world so it is not easy. All he can do is try and that is what he is doing.´

The talented Honda rider himself reviewed his win saying, `I couldn´t believe it because yesterday was tough and we had some problems, then more problems this morning in the warm-up. But then we found a different setting and it worked well. I am very happy and proud for my team, because they work so hard.´

`I also want to say thanks to all the fans who came to the race because it was an amazing day for me,´ concluded Pedrosa.