Dani Pedrosa fears MotoGP engine rules leave Honda stuck

Honda riders struggled with aggressive power delivery last year, and the Japanese manufacturer elected to overhaul its engine philosophy for 2016, following Yamaha and Ducati's lead with a counter-rotating crankshaft.

It has also been harder hit than its rivals by the switch to a less-advanced control ECU.

Pedrosa has suffered more than factory team-mate Marc Marquez with getting power to the ground, especially as Michelin introduced a series of rear tyres with stiffer constructions due to safety concerns.

Softer rubber is now returning as part of tyre development, and Honda is making progress with the electronics, but its revamped engine had to be sealed before the start of the season.

When asked if that meant the Honda could not be fixed to the level he wanted, Pedrosa agreed, saying: "To the level I want, for sure. Because there is a big part [of the improvement] depending on the engine."

The Spaniard, who has signed a new, two-year-deal with Honda, was hopeful that some progress on power delivery could be made.

"In many races I still have the same feeling, the same complaints so I would like to make some improvements soon," he said.

"Obviously there is an improvement on the engine and on chassis [that I want].

"We need somehow to make the electronics work better for us. I think we are still way down in the knowledge of the new software.

"I think still we have some room there to make the bike a little bit more smooth and more stable, especially on the traction control."

Pedrosa added that Honda had tested its current bike with its old factory-developed ECU last November, but that it would not necessarily cover issues "in the core part of the bike", even if it could be brought back.

"Of course the old software is better, but some points of the bike were more or less similar," he said.

"The other electronics could help us to cover some bad points of the engine.

"With the new software, we have less tools - or it's more standard - then you cannot cover every aspect of the non-perfect part of the engine."

REAR GRIP ALSO AN ISSUE

While the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello gave Honda some respite from a focus on acceleration, it highlighted that a lack of rear grip was also hurting cornering.

"It is clear that we are not turning," Pedrosa said.

"We are not having good corner speed with the correct turning, so we are losing a lot of time in the turn.

"We need to improve, this is clear. Unfortunately we do not have many tools now.

"We did try many things from the test to now, but the bike still remains very similar, so we are touching the limit of the bike often."