Honda has no big advantage, says Dani Pedrosa

Dani Pedrosa has denied that Honda will start the 2011 MotoGP world championship in Qatar with a big technical advantage over Yamaha and Ducati.

The new Honda RC212V has been the dominant bike in testing with Marco Simoncelli heading the timesheets in the first Sepang test in early February.

Honda then claimed the top four fastest times in the second Sepang test with Casey Stoner in sparkling form to top the leaderboard.

Honda’s form has prompted the likes of reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo to intensify his demands on Yamaha to increase horsepower with the new factory YZR-M1 machine.

While new Ducati rider Valentino Rossi has spoken frequently about his concern that Honda will start the new season on March 20 in Doha with a clear technical advantage.

Spaniard Pedrosa though has played down Honda’s pre-season superiority as he prepares to depart for the Middle East for this weekend’s final test on Sunday and Monday night in Qatar.

Asked if he thought the RC212V had an early season advantage, the Repsol Honda rider said: “No, I think that right now the bike is reacting well but I don’t think it is so much above the rest.

“In the past we have seen that our bike is good and fast, but what is important in the championship is not what happens in one circuit, but in many.

“In some areas, our bike is better and in some other areas, other bikes are better. In the end, I think that overall balance is the important thing”.

Pedrosa though is adamant that Honda is starting the new campaign in arguably its strongest position since the introduction of the 800cc class in 2007.

HRC has yet to win in the 800cc era and Pedrosa added: “Basically, the bike has not changed so much, so what we tried to do is to improve it in the most critical areas, such as the braking or the electronics.

“The best thing is that this year we have better foundations, contrary to what happened in the previous years, when we had to evolve and improve the bike during the championship.

“This season we start with a very positive preparation that will allow us to face the first race of the championship with a good level of performance”.