Pedrosa: We want a step-up at every track
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MotoGP test rider Dani Pedrosa says his main goal at KTM is to make the RC16 work “in every situation you may encounter in the world championship.”The triple title runner-up joined the Austrian factory after calling time on his full-time grand prix career, spent entirely with Honda, at the end of 2018.”Since I started testing, the bike has been improving and we made some changes that the other KTM riders have proven to like and that suits the different riding styles. That’s really important,” Pedrosa told the official MotoGP website.”We are trying to get the bike a little more suitable for every situation you may encounter in the world championship… It’s not interesting to make a bike that can do very good results in one race or one situation only. We want the bike to be one step-up at every track.”One of the common problems is overtaking, so when you start from the back of the grid it’s difficult. When they are following someone, they see they are struggling for grip but maybe they don’t get the advantage they need to be there for the braking.”So we are studying how to make our bike better so that if you don’t have a good qualifying, you are still able to get good drive out of the corner to make overtakes.”Many of the things we changed on the bike are happening because me and KTM are discussing what is not working and also I’m getting the reports from the riders, what they don’t like; Grip, turning, braking, speed…”Sharing development duties with Mika Kallio, Pedrosa is the only member of KTM’s MotoGP project to know what it takes to win a premier-class race. Indeed, the Spaniard won no less than 31 of them.”You can get much more accurate information on what the bike needs to win. Not the top five, but to win,” Pedrosa said, when describing what a winning rider can offer in a development role. “Because a rider that has been winning for years, knows what is happening at the front and what things you need to handle there.”The mentality and approach is a little bit different, especially the way you accept or don’t accept the good or bad things the bike does. Sometimes you just say, ‘sorry, this isn’t working, you have to change that otherwise you will get no results at the very top’.”But it’s also true that every bike from a manufacturer has phases. When it’s brand new, you cannot expect the bike to win immediately. But by the second phrase, when the bike is already in good development, you can start going into the details.”Since joining the premier-class in 2017, KTM has taken one podium in the wet and a best of sixth place in the dry.”4Both were achieved by the experienced Pol Espargaro, now rumoured to be joining Pedrosa’s former Repsol Honda team next season. The rest of this year’s KTM line-up contains three riders (Miguel Oliveira, plus rookies Brad Binder and Iker Lecuona) with less than a season of premier-class experience.”Some riders in the team are very young and have less experience than many of the rest,” Pedrosa said. “That can be a negative, for example if we have a [short] ‘sprint’ championship, where you cannot make mistakes. On the other hand, it can also be good. When you are young and don’t have so many things fixed in your head. So you never know…”Apart from KTM, Yamaha is the only other factory to have a MotoGP race-winning test rider; Pedrosa’s former rival Jorge Lorenzo.
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