Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was once again let down by his early pace in yesterday’s Motegi MotoGP race, losing three seconds by the end of the second lap which he simply couldn’t get back.

It has been the Spaniard’s biggest problem this season and a solution which Honda thought they had found at the Brno test has not worked as well as they first calculated. Pedrosa is now tied with Rossi for second place but Lorenzo’s late-season form saw him close to within 12 points after two race wins on the bounce.

“I didn’t start on the same pace as Jorge and Valentino, I was struggling more in the early stages to get my rhythm and it took me time, like many races this season, to find it. Even in the middle of the race I wasn’t really catching them but then I started to improve my laptime,” said Pedrosa, speaking at Motegi.

“I started catching back to Rossi and Marc but wasn’t able to get back what I lost. In the second lap I was already three seconds behind the leader so it’s disappointing. For Phillip Island we need to see what tyre comes from Bridgestone and then fight with Jorge and Valentino for second place.”