Test leader Pedrosa 'unsure what to expect'

Dani Pedrosa will seek to emulate his winter test form at the Buriram circuit during this weekend’s inaugural Thailand MotoGP.

Pedrosa, who now has five races left to at least salvage a podium finish from his final MotoGP season, set the fastest lap during MotoGP’s Buriram debut in February and will thus hope to pick up where he left off when practice gets underway on Friday.

“It will be the first time we race in Buriram, so we don’t know exactly what to expect from the weekend,” Pedrosa said.

“Of course we have the references from the test we did in February, which went well, so we hope the feeling will be similar.

“The heat will be high and that will severely put to the test the bike, tyres and ourselves, but it’s something we have dealt with many times already in Malaysia.”

Michelin will bring a modified rear tyre design to Thailand following data from February’s test, ‘to contend with high temperatures that will be generated’.

The Spanish star, a race winner every year since 2002 in the 125cc class, looked on course for a rostrum challenge last time at Aragon, where sixth on the grid marked his best qualifying since a front row at Jerez in May.

But Pedrosa would regret not joining race winning team-mate Marc Marquez on the soft rear tyre, instead electing to race the hard and crossing the line in fifth place.

That matched his best of the season, but the Spaniard – not prone to lofty statements – admitted: “It’s a shame, because today I think it was possible to be on the podium or fight for the victory.”