Valentino Rossi on Dani Pedrosa’s brilliance at Jerez: "He's younger than me"
Pedrosa, 37, has thrilled fans and his fellow riders alike in a wildcard appearance for KTM, going fastest in the first Friday practice session then finishing sixth in Saturday’s sprint.
Rossi, 44, is also in attendance at Jerez to see his Mooney VR46 team who, heading into the weekend, had Marco Bezzecchi on top of the MotoGP standings.
"Dani was very good this weekend, not riding so much during the year is not easy,” Rossi said about Pedrosa.
“After all he has always been one of the strongest. Among other things he is much younger than me, he is 37 years old."
Rossi is attending a MotoGP event for the first time in 2023 at the track where he has won six premier class races.
"I remember the victory in 2016, because it's a fresher memory,” he said.
“But the best game was the one against Sete Gibernau in 2005, there we played more, we came from a difficult moment. It was beautiful.
“This is one of my favourite tracks, there is a nice atmosphere."
Rossi saw Francesco Bagnaia become the first VR46 Academy graduate to become MotoGP champion last season.
This year, his Mooney VR46 team claimed their first premier class victory through Bezzecchi in Argentina.
Bezzecchi has emerged as an early title contender in a brilliant start to the season for Rossi’s squad - although he fell in the sprint and could only finish ninth.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
