MotoGP is already counting the days to return to action and, therefore, it is time to place the bets for the season. The tests left a clear dominance of the Ducati, who start as great favorites, along with the many great doubts left by the rest of the brands. It is clear that Aprilia is the closest, but you can never stop counting on Yamaha, which did not appear until the last moment in Portimao, or Honda, which despite being lost, it can never be ruled out by the simple presence of Marc Márquez in the team. No one knows where the eight-time world champion’s magic or talent can come from and, given the risk, it’s better to put him among the candidates for everything.
That’s how he considered it Dani Pedrosa in his last television appearance. During his time on the program ‘Martínez y hermanos’, from Movistar+, The Spaniard was able to comment on the challenge of the Honda rider after a season marked by his fourth operation, which left him out of the circuits for a little over three months, although he still has a long way to go to return to a 100% ready physique. Just before the start of the World Championship, Márquez is ready, although not his RC213V. Despite everything, are there possibilities? Pedrosa, who already sees the ‘bulls’ from the sidelines, is clear: never give it up. “Marc is a crack, but he has a difficult time this year. He comes from an injury, he has been out of the game for a long time, he has to regain confidence and his rivals, instead, are winning it all the time, with bikes that are now better than his. He has an arduous task ahead of him, really, but it’s interesting”, explains the pilot, who has shared the box for many years with the champion.
And despite the fact that your teammate is always the first opponent you want to beat, for Pedrosa, Márquez did not turn out to be a figure that completely marked his sports career. Ahead of Honda’s, Jorge Lorenzo will always be linked to his time in MotoGP. Two Spaniards who starred in a very tough rivalry in which the King, Juan Carlos I, even had to mediate, leaving an image for history: after the 2008 Spanish GP race, in Jerez, with both on the podium, his majesty joined his hands in the hope of reaching, at least, a cordiality. “There was a lot of tension. That Saturday we had a small run-in in the podium area after qualifying. It was super cold, we were on the podium together, waiting to pass and one at each corner. Our rivalry went back years. The King brought us together, shook our hands and, whether you like it or not, breaks the ice a bit. Not immediately, but over time, yes. explains Pedrosa, who admits to having a good relationship with Jorge because “we don’t race anymore.”
Dozens of great battles remain in the history books, but Dani remembers one in particular: “One of my favorites was against Jorge Lorenzo, in the Czech Republic. We spent the whole race passing each other. It had to be one of the two. We overtook two or three times and entered the last corner parallel. The whole curve like that and nobody wanted to give in. We entered the finish line together and, in the end, I won it”. Now he faces a new challenge with KTM in competition: his wild card at the Spanish GP this season, in Jerez.