MotoGP Argentina 2016 April
Dani Pedrosa refused to take anything for granted as he placed second behind team-mate Marc Marquez at the close of MotoGP free practice two in Argentina.
Featuring well inside the top ten on Friday morning, Pedrosa acknowledged that the current track conditions, which offered near-to-no grip in the morning before improving in the afternoon, hurt other riders and machines more than his 2016 package.
Nevertheless, the three-time world champion was aware that, barring showers of rain, the 2.9-mile track's grip levels should continue to improve on Saturday, meaning he in turn will need to adapt his settings to the changeable conditions.
“Today was better than other days,” began Pedrosa. “I mean the track is dirty and it's hard to ride. Overall we did some steps in the way I feel on the bike and I still know the track needs to improve so the lap times will be improving. We have to adapt to that every time we go out.”
On tyre compound preference, he continued, “I was using both but the track was so hot so it is hard to say. I don't know if we can expect those high temperatures for Sunday but anyway we have to keep trying in case tomorrow is wet.
“If it's wet tomorrow we are more safe because of the position today and the faster lap time than the others. We still know that when the track gets better we will have to adjust and adjust our riding also. Still we need to be quite careful, pay attention to every detail and work session-by-session.”
The Catalan, who currently sits fifth in the world championship, also explained how it was difficult to evaluate tyre endurance, as he experiments with bike set-up.
“We still don't know which is the best performance endurance. We have to figure it out. Still it's a bit unknown. As a rider we need some more experience on the rear to be able to make the perfect choice.
“At the same time I am changing the bike so much to get a better feeling with the character also change of the tyres. Unless we have a fixed setting on I can get more experience with the tyres.”
Pedrosa was the second of four Hondas inside the top five, something that he doesn't foresee continuing into the second day of free practice.
“Well, I think these conditions are maybe rough for some other riders, maybe the setting or the bike. I guess the gaps will be a little different when the grip improves. At this moment we are working also to improve our performance when the track improves so we want to keep that gap.”
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