Pedrosa ‘almost 100 percent’ after niggling injury

Dani Pedrosa has revealed he is “almost” at full fitness after competing at the first round of 2018 with a niggling hand injury that had caused him some pain.

The Spaniard was nursing the injury since the first night of testing in Qatar in early March, when two falls in the same session left some lasting damage on his left hand.

Since Qatar, Pedrosa completed a useful one-day test with Marc Marquez at Jerez where he gained further experience with the 2018 RC213V. The further time away from the bike has aided recovery.

“Better? [It’s] Almost 100%,” said Pedrosa. “[There is] Still some pain sometimes, but almost normal. I had some pain in the race at Qatar, yes, I took some painkillers, but now it's improving.”

Speaking on Thursday ahead of the second round of 2018, Pedrosa also confirmed he raced in Qatar with Honda’s new carbon swingarm but insists the excessive spinning he encountered with Michelin’s rear tyre meant he was unable (or unwilling) to give an assessment on the part.

“Yes, [I used it],” he said. “I didn't have good grip like I said, because of the feeling from the tire. So not much to say about that.”

On the adverse conditions that could face riders this weekend, he continued, “It looks like the weather could be a little bit different to today, so we have experience with this track when it's like today that's dry and hot, and since the first year always had good feeling with the track, except last year that I struggled a lot in practice and in the race.

“But yes, maybe in the rain we don't have the same experience. We did last year the qualifying, I think, but if it's raining all weekend, we have to adapt and see, what tyres, how they feel. We have a part of the track that has new asphalt, so we have to check how the grip is or how dirty or clean the track will be.

“Then for sure during the weekend the track can be a little bit, one practice more water, one practice less water, so the rain is always a little bit, it's not like in the dry, where you have constant conditions.”

After one race of experience, is Pedrosa unequivocal that the 2018 Honda is a major improvement on what he raced last season?

“Still there are some points that … I think the engine is stronger compared to the last two years, so this is positive,” he said. “We are closer now. But still, many things depend. In Qatar we had the slipstream, but it's a step forward.”

“Of course, more speed means more chance to fight in the braking, in the group, so you have more room to make a strategy.”