Dani Pedrosa has arrived at the Mugello circuit for round 6 of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship, the Gran Premio d'Italia, after a very difficult week sadly marked by the loss of fellow Honda rider and close friend Nicky Hayden.
"The Mugello weekend will be very emotional,” he said. “It's tough to lose a friend, especially one who became very close during three seasons as teammates and over the years afterwards. I remember how much Nicky pushed, how hard he tried, never giving up while chasing his dream to win the MotoGP title.”
“I also remember when I was suffering with arm-pump in 2015 and I announced I was going to stop with racing for a while after the first GP. He immediately came to see me to understand what was going on and it was him who actually recommended the doctor I had the surgery with. He was such a nice person and I'm so sad and sorry especially for his family. We will think of him and feel him close in our hearts when we go on track in Mugello, as we did at the Montmelo test last week.”
On Wednesday of last week, Dani took part in a productive one-day test at Circuit de Catalunya, to help prepare for the two back-to-back races in Mugello and Montmeló.
“In Catalunya we lapped on the revised layout and worked on the front Michelin tyre we'll have to use from now on,” Dani explained. “We learn and we made some adjustments to the setup over the day of testing and in the end we could manage and get a better feeling. We confirmed that our base set up is good. We finished the test in a positive way”.
Dani has two wins at this venue Mugello: 1 x 250 (2005) and 1 x MGP (2010), plus an additional six podiums and two pole positions.
