"We have made another important step forward after Phillip Island where I crashed out of the race and hurt my left knee."

There's an excuse. Right from Pedrosa's interview. Seems like he always has one handy.

" It has been a little bit difficult for me and my team to get used this package so late in the season, but we are getting faster every race and this is important. "

That's too bad; maybe you should have thought of that before you switched. If you know what you're doing, you should be smart enough to know that there will be a learning curve if you switch such a major component of your ride.

I don't really buy the language barrier thing. Rossi manages to be likeable even though English isn't his first language. Haga manages the same thing. Dani's personality still comes through when he speaks English, and he comes across as a doucher.