Dani Pedrosa rode a solid race to secure third place behind Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi in today’s Australian Grand Prix.
Starting from the front row the Repsol Honda rider got the jump on the others and led the first lap, unfortunately for him, he was then consumed by the Stoner/Rossi battle on the following lap.
He settled in to a lonely third place for the rest of the race which means he drops behind Stoner to forth place in the championship.
“It's good to be on the podium again,” said Pedrosa, “Especially after the crash in qualifying yesterday, so I'm happy about that. I pushed myself to the maximum in the race and we led for a short while from the start. Actually it's a shame they don't award points for getting the holeshot! “
“Casey and Valentino were going superfast today and I just couldn't keep pace with them once they came past. From then on I just tried to keep my rhythm going and tried not to make any mistakes. It's a little frustrating of course not to be able to fight at the front, but considering the crash yesterday this result was OK and I'd like to say thanks to the team because they worked hard this weekend.”
The next round in Malaysia is a favourite of Pedrosa so he heads to Sepang in a confident mood, hoping for another strong result.