Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) starts his second home race of the year from pole position after blasting three tenths clear of the field in qualifying, after the ‘Baby Samurai’ continued his much improved performance in terms of grid positions this season.
After having won from pole in the heat of Jerez, Pedrosa was unwilling to be drawn on his predictions for Sunday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – instead focused on the tyre choice and intent on keeping a low profile to get ready to race.
Dani Pedrosa, P1: “I’m very happy about the pole because last year I was always struggling in qualifying so today to have a second pole is amazing, especially in front of this crowd. Today wasn’t an easy day, adapting to the chicane, testing so many tyres – and the heat was very strong. But it was pretty much a good day, working positively from the morning to figure out which was the best tyre. In the afternoon when it was so hot we made one mistake but we were still able to do a good job in qualifying. Thanks to my team! In this race the tyre choice and durability is always important. Last year it was one of the most difficult. Tomorrow we have to pick the right one, get a good feeling on the bike and see how we manage the situation. We know it will be hard but we need to keep our heads down and focus for tomorrow.”