Pedrosa: Wheelie control 'not magic'

Dani Pedrosa lost the lead of Sunday's Catalunya MotoGP for the final time when his Honda RC213V wheelied onto the back straight with five laps to go.

The Spaniard was forced to back off to bring the front wheel down in time to brake for the following turn, but still ran slightly wide - allowing Jorge Lorenzo through to victory.

Afterwards, Pedrosa was asked why the wheelie was possible - given all the complex electronic controls present on the MotoGP prototypes.

"These bikes have traction control and wheelie control, but they are not magic," said Pedrosa. "We have everything set at the limit, to help but not stop [wheelies], because if we have all the controls set to never make a wheelie the bike would not be fast enough.

"Perhaps on that lap I went more onto the zebra [kerb] and then I had a small shake and then I got a wheelie. By then it was already fourth gear and at that speed it is like an aeroplane, the air gets under and then you make even more of a wheelie.

"So I had to close the throttle and then I braked too late because I thought Jorge was right behind me."

Although desperately disappointed to lose his home race, Pedrosa admits that Lorenzo's form is hard to fault.

"For sure Jorge is almost doing a perfect season," he said "He is only missing ten points out of the total possible so far. He's really on the pace and we have to be there also if we want to keep up in the championship."

"I have everything good this year, but I am not winning," added Dani, frequently injured in previous seasons. "That is more disappointing than anything else for me at the moment."

Pedrosa is third in the world championship after five of 18 rounds, but already 30 points - more than one race win - behind Lorenzo. Pedrosa's team-mate Stoner, the only rider other than Lorenzo to win this year, is 20 points from the Yamaha rider.

But one thing that didn't impress Pedrosa on Sunday was Lorenzo's turn one pass earlier in the race.

"I had a tough moment when Jorge passed me the first time. He almost didn't leave me space. I didn't know if I had to go straight or could make the corner. I finally made it but lost some ground and had to catch back up," he said.

With the silly season already in full swing following Stoner's retirement decision, rumours suggest Honda will make a determined effort to sign Lorenzo for 2013.

"These things always occur in years when every rider is out of contract," said Pedrosa of the paddock speculation. "I have other people to take care of that. I really care more about winning."