Pedrosa "doesn't miss racing very much" despite starring Misano MotoGP wildcard
KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa admitted racing is “not something I miss very much” despite his impressive MotoGP wildcard at the San Marino Grand Prix.
The 37-year-old Spaniard finished fourth in both races, missing out on a podium by just 0.669s in the grand prix after hunting down reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia.
It was just his third grand prix appearance since retiring at the end of 2018, having also participated in this year’s Spanish GP at Jerez.
The three-time MotoGP championship runner-up was praised for his performance by other riders, including Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, who said Pedrosa’s performances “makes you doubt everything” about what you see in MotoGP.
But despite his strong results, Pedrosa says he is “not considering returning at any time”.
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Speaking on Sunday, he said: “It's nice to come back and compete and perform well, but it's not something I miss very much.
“I wouldn't know how to give myself a grade, but I'm quite happy with the performance. I do give the team a very high grade, they've worked well and without errors.”
He added: “I'm not considering returning at any time. Besides, you see the problem we have, there are more riders than bikes, we're not going to mess it up any more.
“I've had a lot of fun, but everything has its time and I've already had mine. More and more, now I enjoy motorcycles from the outside.”
Dani Pedrosa, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: KTM Images
Pedrosa’s result on Sunday means he has overtaken former Honda team-mate Marc Marquez in the championship by one point.
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The 31-time MotoGP race-winner said he was “more nervous [on Sunday] than [Saturday], since the morning I was already noticing it. I had a lot of fun, fourth place had never felt so good to me before”.
Discussing the sprint race, Pedrosa said: “Yesterday I saw that I had more pace than Pecco and I thought that maybe if I made a good start I could qualify for the podium. But it was difficult for me and although I had more advantage over Pecco, I couldn't.”
He added: “The feeling of the race was greater this Sunday. In the end I thought that this was a race, the sprint is important and gives points, but the real race is on Sunday, that was my feeling.”
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