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Q:
How did you feel when you woke up on Monday morning?

Dani Pedrosa:
I thought that it had been a heavy blow, especially for my team-mate
Nicky, but also for me, for Honda, for Repsol, for the mechanics and
for all the fans that have been following us throughout the season.
I'm very sad about what happened in Estoril. I know that there's
nothing I can change now, but there are still many chances for my
team-mate Nicky Hayden to become world champion. Repsol Honda is one
team and we are going to show it in Valencia, as we always do. I'll do
everything I can to help him. We have a big challenge ahead but we can
make it.

Q:
Once he had cooled down, Nicky behaved like a real gentleman -
considering that he'd lost the championship lead for the first time
since round three. Have you thought about how you would have reacted
if the situation was reversed?

Dani Pedrosa:
I've thought a lot about it. He didn't want to start any kind of
controversy through the media and despite everything that had happened
and how angry he was, he managed to calm down and behave like a great
professional. Nicky has taught a lesson of professionalism behaving in
an excellent way. He accepted my apologies when I went to see him in
his motorhome and he didn't foster the media, nor did he want to make
a big deal out of this. I know what he told the media and despite them
trying to get good headlines, Nicky didn't say a single negative word
about me. And to tell you the truth, I would have understood. It was
his right.

Q:
Let's look at the incident itself in detail, what can you tell us
about it?

Dani Pedrosa:
I made a good start; I passed Nicky and put myself behind Rossi who
was pushing hard. I knew that Rossi wouldn't be able to escape and
also that Edwards was there and that he would try to stop us to help
Rossi. Suddenly Edwards passed me, almost taking me off my line and I
had a big fright. Shortly after it happened again with Nicky, so I
decided not to take part in the battle so soon and stayed fourth,
waiting. There was a lot of race left and it wasn't the time to start
absurd fights. Valentino was not escaping and being fourth was
alright. My plan was to control Valentino and let the laps go by to
attack towards the end.

Q:
So, you were only thinking about victory?

Dani Pedrosa:
Yes, that's right. Alberto [Puig] and I had talked about the different
possibilities and our aim was scoring 50 points in the two remaining
races. Honda had given us freedom to decide and we had mathematically
chances. Nicky could fail in one of the races and the Yamaha had
already shown along the season, that the engine is fragile. So our
plan was to score those 50 points, considering that there were two
circuits ahead in which we could be very competitive, and just watch
what Rossi and my team-mate Nicky would be doing. I'm a race rider and
I obviously want to win, but all those who follow me and know me, know
that I have never done it by trickery. I had never knocked down anyone
in the six years I've been in the world championship. Not even in my
worst dreams would I have thought that something like what happened on
Sunday could ever happen to me. I wanted to win, but in no way
hindering my team-mate from continuing with his fight for the title.
He has been working very hard this season, he has been very regular
and he had big chances to win the title. I also race to win and as
long as Honda wouldn't say anything different, I had to try.

Q:
From what you've said, you weren't trying to overtake Hayden at the
time of the accident and were waiting for later in the race to
attack...

Dani Pedrosa:
Yes, that was my plan, to control the situation, to observe and to
play my cards towards the end. But suddenly, in corner six, a
left-hander after the second longest straight of the circuit, I
arrived too fast at the braking point and my rear tyre was up while I
was operating the brakes. It was only a question of a few seconds; I
noticed what was going to happen, I went through the inside looking
for space enough to brake and when the front tyre lost grip I just
prayed to God to be the only one to crash… It was an instant, some
tenths of a second, but I remember perfectly well how my team-mate was
on the asphalt and his despair.

Q:
Unsurprisingly, a lot has since been written about the incident,
including speculation about what it means in terms of your character,
what do you have to say?

Dani Pedrosa:
I just can say that I'm terribly sorry about what happened. Nicky
didn't deserve something like this. I have already apologised to whom
I had to, and I publicly commit myself to doing all I can to help my
team-mate to achieve the title. I will be Nicky Hayden's best help in
Valencia.

--
-Michael
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