Pedrosa: "Track conditions were good from the beginning"

After a tough mid-season, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) was back in with the frontrunners in Silverstone as he recorded a P5, and Friday at Misano got the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini off to another flying start for the 3-time world champion. A solid outing in FP1 then saw Pedrosa move up the timesheets to challenge for the top by the end of the day, less than a tenth behind leader Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). With consistent pace and only a fraction off Friday's fastest, Pedrosa ended the day in P2 and will be looking forward to more track time on Saturday ahead of qualifying, with the dry Italian weather giving the grid much more consistent conditions to work in - and new tyres from Michelin giving positive first indications.

Dani Pedrosa (P2): "Good start today, but I think the positive part was that the conditions on the track were good from the beginning. The temperature, and the fact that the track was quite clean and grippy. We had chance to try the new tyres, and do some work on the bike and the rhythm. We still need to work more for tomorrow and I think it's a positive start but we need to stay focused again. Here there are two different tyres and we tried both today, with a different feeling from each but they worked well on the track. It was positive to have a new tyre that was untested but is working for almost everyone. In the test after the Brno race, we made a small change in the setting which I liked. We have continued working in that direction, not making too many changes, first in Silverstone and now here. We’re gaining some confidence step by step."