---
title: "Pedrosa hails ‘marvellous’ Spanish Grand Prix weekend"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/05/08/pedrosa-hails-marvellous-spanish-grand-prix-weekend/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "MotoGP News"
published: "2017-05-08T09:16:29Z"
modified: "2017-05-08T09:16:56Z"
---

# Pedrosa hails ‘marvellous’ Spanish Grand Prix weekend

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa capped off a ‘marvellous’ Spanish Grand Prix weekend with an emphatic victory in Sunday’s 27-lap 3000th world championship race.

Pedrosa has been in imperious form all weekend, topping all but one practice session and snatching pole position for the first time since Sepang 2015 on Saturday. Boasting competitive race runs in FP4, Pedrosa was confident of a strong showing on Sunday.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/05/680026602.jpg)

More comfortable on the medium front tyre, the higher track temperatures meant he had to run the harder tyre, which caused him to have a few nervous moments at several points during the race. Pedrosa also ran the medium rear, using his grip advantage to pull out a healthy lead of over 1.5s in the early stages.

Consistently lapping in the mid-high 1m40s barrier, his diminutive size and less aggressive riding style kept his lead sizeable for the entire race, allowing him to respond to all of team-mate Marc Marquez’s charges.

“Today the track conditions were a bit worse than yesterday, and the front was sliding a lot,” said Pedrosa.

“I chose the hard front because of today’s high temperatures, even if the medium was my favourite. The pace probably would have been faster with the medium, but anyway I was happy with my choice.

“When Marc started to push, we started a little battle like yesterday in qualifying. I knew he was very fast, but I was determined to keep a gap on him.

“It was easy to make a mistake, to lose the front, so it was a matter of staying on the limit without going over it. It went well, it was a marvellous weekend and we now must continue at this level.”

With both factory Yamaha riders struggling in the hotter conditions, Pedrosa’s victory sees him make up the ground lost in the championship from his Argentina crash, the Spaniard now just 10 points from leader Valentino Rossi.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/05/680006248.jpg)

Aware that results may have been different had it not been for Yamaha’s woes, Pedrosa still feels Honda are heading in the right direction. The Spaniard admits that the team are constantly gaining a better understanding on how to properly set the RC213V up, and he is adapting more to the handling characteristics of the bike.

“It’s amazing to pull out this win, because our rivals were not as good for some reason. Normally they are favourites at this track, and as usual every year at least one bike is on the podium from them.

“We get back some points that we lost after our mistake in Argentina, so it is quite good for us and interesting for the championship. I would say we are learning more about the bike and getting close to where the bike is looking stronger, also set-up wise and electronics.

“Also, you are getting more used to the riding style of the bike, learning from our mistakes or our not good points.”