Pedrosa still struggling and off the podium at Phillip Island

Dani Pedrosa fought to get on the podium from the start of the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island. Teammate Dovizioso completed the first lap in the same position he started, as he overtook Bautista but was surpassed by Hayden, whom he was able to pass in the third lap. Pedrosa, who started eight, was sixth at that moment after recovering two places and was at the wheel of his countryman. Overtaking him in the fourth lap, he tried to do the same with Hayden in the following lap. The American tried to resist, but a lap later Pedrosa was able to pass him and place himself behind Dovizioso, who was trying to catch Marco Simoncelli, second.

When the three riders got together, Pedrosa overtook his team mate, but eight laps later Dovizioso surpassed him in a thrilling fight for the third place of the podium, which allowed Simoncelli to get some advantage again. With many problems with the front tyre’s grip, Pedrosa was not able to keep the pace of his two Italian rivals and finally rode a lonely race in fourth until the chequered flag.

Dani Pedrosa 4th at 13.160 sec.
“It’s been very tough today, I didn’t feel comfortable throughout the weekend and the race didn’t start in the best way either. I had a problem with the wind at the start, I almost lost balance and I had to put the left foot on the floor at the same time as the red light went out, so I had a bad start.

The first few laps were not so good, then I recovered slightly, I overtook Andrea [Dovizioso] and fought with him but the front tyre was finished in the last laps. When I tried to pull away I was losing the front, so I couldn’t keep him behind and then the rain arrived.

It’s not been a good weekend for me, I want to say congratulations to Casey [Stoner] for his title, he’s been the strongest this season, always on the podium, with no mistakes, so he deserves it”.

Source: Repsol Media