MOTOGP: Pedrosa starting season 'behind'

Honda rider Dani Pedrosa admits he will start the new MotoGP season in Qatar next weekend "behind" where he needs to be.

Pedrosa and teammate Marc Marquez have had a mixed pre-season as Honda sought to correct the rideability issues that plagued its 2015 season, and adapt to the new control ECU and Michelin tires.

While Marquez left Qatar's final pre-season test feeling like he could "see the light at the end of the tunnel," Pedrosa did not share his optimism.

"This wasn't a pre-season I dreamed [about]," he said in a MotoGP.com interview. "We were struggling with the bike to make it work, together with the new rules for this year – especially the new tires and electronics – we have not succeeded in time [to be] fully prepared for the first race.

"In this moment, we are behind, so we need to do step by step and we hope we can achieve soon some results to get back to full competition."

Ducati and Suzuki's off-season gains mean they could challenge Honda and Yamaha's duopoly at the top of the field this year, having split the race wins for the last five years. Pedrosa feels Ducati's past experience is helping with the new Magneti Marelli control electronics in particular.

"Ducati is a little bit in advantage with the electronics because the electronics comes from their technology from the past, so we need to catch up," he added. "We need a little bit more time now, we try to speed up to be as quick as them.

"We will try to set up the bike in a way we can use the electronics in better ways to have the bike in better lap times."

Originally on Autosport.com