Is Jerez Dani Pedrosa’s last Grand Prix?

Dani Pedrosa This Monday he will be one of those absent from the post-race test in Jerez and Pol Espargaró will be in charge of doing things for KTM. His stint at Jerez came to an end on Sunday with the race ending prematurely with a fall at turn 8 on the fourth lap when he was eleventh and his elbows bandaged due to a tear. His fourth wild-card came to an abrupt end, but the day before he was one of the heroes of the day with his third position in the Sprint race. He once again received the love of the fans and left open the possibility that it would be his last career. His life is about to change at the family level and everything he can achieve as a top competition driver he has already achieved.

“I am very happy and if this was my last race, I am happy because it was here in Jerez,” said Dani Pedrosa, who has finished his 299th race in the World Championship. They asked him if he would dare to run the 300, but he gave the impression that he was on a different wavelength: “It’s up to him, to round up. But that’s just a number, nothing happens.”

Because he also downplayed his inability to celebrate that Sprint podium with Martín and Acosta at Nieto-Peluqui, the emblematic double curve at Jerez, which he inherited due to Quartararo’s sanction. “It would have been a hoot, but I should have been ahead of him, but it’s okay.”

Regarding what could be his last race, he explained that “it wasn’t the end we were looking for, but it went the way it did. I fell fast at turn 8. I don’t know why I fell. I’m As usual and I didn’t run faster than usual, I tried to feel those first laps, but probably because of the humidity we saw a lot of falls in the three categories. I think in that lap I went through the critical area and it was a bit steeper than expected, and I fell, but I didn’t struggle too much, but we have to take what I learned from the bike this weekend, we have a lot of information about how this bike works and what ideas we have for the next tests,” explained Dani Pedrosa.
The balance of the weekend: “I am happy for Saturday, for the love of the fans and for being here once again. That has been the positive part. I would like to finish this, because this is my philosophy, to try to achieve the maximum “.

“My goal was the top 10 and I made a good start. I went up a bit in the first two corners and then I gained a few more positions in that lap, and I was in 11th or 12th , and then more riders crashed. “Martin crashed, Miller and Morbidelli crashed… We definitely reached our goal, but today I was one of the ones who made a mistake,” he added.

With Dani, the commentator gave his opinion on the battle between Bagnaia and Márquez for victory in Jerez: “I saw it when they were treating me (from scratches on my elbows from the fall). “It was nice you always felt bad when he didn’t finish the race, but he was there and said: ‘Well, look, at least I’m enjoying the show.’ Marc made a good comeback, gradually gaining time, but then we saw a very important reaction, because he was able to stop Marc and respond to him because the latter was very fast.

And he ruled out that the rivalry that ended the two of them on the ground in Portimao had an influence: “I think things were settled there and that was it. But it was interesting to see the reaction of both of them, because Martín fell and the two was taking a lot of points from him in the leader, but in the end they risked for 25 points that responded with a fast lap that left him little in that lap to react at the end and recovered again, but Pecco did very well,” he evaluated.