Mapping mishap slows Pedrosa

Dani Pedrosa was left to rue an electronic issue during MotoGP qualifying in Mugello that saw the Spaniard accidentally select the wrong engine map on the out lap of his final run.

Pedrosa, who qualified fourth, had been confident of a front row start but the engine map meant that he finished 0.314s behind his Repsol Honda team-mate Marc Marquez.

"When I went out with the second tyre I was feeling ok but somewhere, maybe exiting the pits, I touched the mapping [switch] and I was in the lowest power mode," said Pedrosa. "I realised it when I stopped for my practice start and I saw that I was running on the lowest power mode.

"It was hard [to notice the incorrect engine map] because I had grip and I wasn't spinning all the time, so you don't feel that you are losing time.

"So that was a little mistake but somewhere I touched it without knowing. But we did a good qualifying. The race can be quite close in the first laps tomorrow and then the second part will be the key. I'm behind a Ducati and they are very fast on the straights!"

Cal Crutchlow described the new Ducati engine as "a rocket" while Pedrosa admitted that following Andrea Dovizioso in practice gave him an understanding of how fast the Desmosedici is on the long Mugello straights.

"It will be hard at turn one with the Ducatis because I was with Dovi in the afternoon and from third gear onwards... ciao," said Pedrosa.