Dani Pedrosa

The first time Dani Pedrosa got on a motorbike was at the age of four and his machine, a motocross Italjet 50, had side-wheels. At the age of six, Dani began racing on minibikes. His first pocket bike was a miniature copy of a street Kawasaki. Other bikes followed, circuits and races with friends, always for fun and not even imagining what was yet to come.

It was in 1996 when the ten-year-old Dani entered the Spanish Minibike Championship. Dani began to race on kart circuits all over Spain, always joined by his parents and with the bike in the car trunk. That same year, Dani finished his first race in sixth position, due to a problem with the exhaust pipe of his bike. With the second race came his first podium finish. He liked the experience and decided to enter the same Championship the next year, after finishing second overall in his first season.

But he had bad luck and a few days before the 1997 season Dani got chicken pox. The result was that he wasn’t even able to put on the helmet. It was the beginning of the season and given the problem, Pedrosa finished that season eight points behind the leader, in the third overall position.

Although Pedrosa managed to get the title in 1998 he still enjoyed racing as a mere hobby. The Aprilia 50 Cup and the Open RACC were popular promotion cups in those days and Pedrosa considered the possibility to enter one of them. But due to the lack of means and support and despite his good results, Dani decided to leave motorbikes aside and to change over to mountain bikes. When he was just about to get the licence to start racing on bicycles, the family heard from a friend that the Movistar Activa Cup, a promotion cup with competition bikes, was being organised.

The change from minibikes to racing bikes was huge and Dani was still young, but in early 1999 they decided to send an entry form to take part in the trials that would be held at the Jarama circuit in Madrid. The weekend before the trials Pedrosa learned to ride a bike with a gearbox on an industrial area nearby his home with a borrowed bike. It was his first time on a circuit and he was not only nervous; the bike was so high that his feet didn’t reach the floor. Despite everything, the 13-year-old passed the trials and took part in the Movistar Activa Cup that year finishing in a meritorious eighth position. Of the twenty-five riders taking part in the Cup that year, only three were able to become part of Alberto Puig’s team, who, given Pedrosa’s huge potential, included him among the chosen, with Joan Olive and Raul Jara.

In 2000, Dani took part in the Spanish Championship with the Movistar Junior Team. He finished four of the six races, but took four poles, finishing fourth overall, behind Joan Olivé, Raúl Jara and Toni Elias. It was then when Alberto Puig told him that he was going to take part in the 125cc Motorcycle World Championship. Pedrosa, who was already 14 couldn’t believe it; his dream was coming true. In the first race held in Suzuka, he was among the last riders of the grid and he had never seen so many riders racing together and especially in such a competitive class. He still remembers that he got scared in the first corner, something that never happened again

2001 was a learning year for Dani Pedrosa, but even though he managed to take two podiums finishes, a third place in Valencia and another in Motegi. He took the start among the leading riders in several races, and despite having little experience; he rode side by side with well-known riders such as Toni Elias, Manuel Poggiali or Youichi Ui. He finished eighth overall in the Championship. His final third position in the 2002 World Championship, where he had been a title candidate together with Manuel Poggiali or Arnaud Vincent, was the evidence of his tremendous potential. This fact was confirmed by the nine podium finishes and six pole positions he took that year, as well as by his three victories in Assen, Motegi and Valencia. Although he had to settle for the third place, he was considered the most spectacular and combative rider of the class.

Coming of age

Dani Pedrosa faced his third season in the 125cc World Championship with serenity, determination and with the aim of clinching the title. During the season, he showed a maturity that would rather be normal for a veteran rider but not for an 18-year-old and he got the reputation of one of the most talented young riders of the sport. He became 125cc World Champion in Malaysia, with two GPS left for the end of the season, after a total of five victories and six podium finishes. Only one week later, misfortune hit the young rider who suffered a hair-rising accident during the practice session of the Australian GP, where he broke both ankles.

Dani Pedrosa faced his third season in the 125cc World Championship with serenity, determination and with the aim of clinching the title. During the season, he showed a maturity that would rather be normal for a veteran rider but not for an 18-year-old and he got the reputation of one of the most talented young riders of the sport. He became 125cc World Champion in Malaysia, with two GPS left for the end of the season, after a total of five victories and six podium finishes. Only one week later, misfortune hit the young rider who suffered a hair-rising accident during the practice session of the Australian GP, where he broke both ankles.

In 2004, after a hard recovery period and under the protection of Alberto Puig, his mentor and right-hand man, the young rider decided to make the jump to the 250cc class. From the beginning, he considered the season as a season of learning and adapting to the class and not with the aim of fighting for the title. But he surprised everybody right from the first tests of the season. Hard work and dedication, both from the rider himself and the whole team, soon bore fruit. He took the victory of the first race in South Africa after a spectacular fight with De Puniet. He took the class leadership after the Brazilian Grand Prix and he stayed there until the end of the season. He became 250cc World Champion in Australia, in his rookie season in the class, at the age of 19, the youngest in history, fifteen years after Sito Pons. In addition to the seven victories, it was his incredible regularity throughout the year that made him worth the title. The only races he didn’t finish on the podium were Jerez, after crashing under heavy rain and in Estoril and Phillip Island where he finished fourth.

With more experience and maturity, Dani Pedrosa faced his second season in the 250cc as the big favourite. The considerable competition he had to face, the adverse weather conditions at the beginning of the season and the shoulder injury he suffered during the practice sessions of the Japanese Grand Prix, turned 2005 into a difficult year for the Repsol rider. Eventually, 51 points were enough to let Alberto Puig’s pupil win his third sceptre on the Australian circuit of Phillip Island, two races before the end of the 2005 season.

Third consecutive World Title

In the first Grand Prix of the season, staged in Jerez, the reigning World Champion played his role and took his first victory on the Andalusian track. Not a real friend of wet races, Pedrosa had to overcome his fears in 2005, because the weather conditions were bad on several occasions. In Donington and under an intense rain shower, he took a meritorious fourth place, his best result so far on a wet track. The young Repsol rider led the overall standings almost from start to end, and he only left the top spot on the sheets during one Grand Prix, after the flood in Shanghai. Bit by bit, Dani went on increasing his advantage, first over Dovizioso and then over Stoner, having a maximum advantage of 63 points before the Japanese Grand Prix.

Motegi was a point of inflection for Dani Pedrosa. Three crashes during the practice sessions undermined both his physical and moral condition. Despite hurting his right shoulder and starting the race with hardly any time to set-up his Honda, his skill and conviction took him to cross the finish line behind the winner of the race, his team-mate Aoyama. He arrived in Malaysia with hardly any time to recover, but he warned his rivals already during the practice. He took the second place on the starting grid but crashed in the second lap after loosing the front end of his bike. First no-score for Dani, something that Stoner, winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix made good use of to close the gap in the overall standings. Still convalescent, Pedrosa worked hard in Qatar and managed to take the fourth place, despite suffering evident problems with his engine.

Australia meant the first match ball for Dani, and the Repsol rider didn’t want to loose his first chance. After a good start, Dani knew how to read the race perfectly well. While Stoner crashed in the fourth lap, Pedrosa put himself behind Porto, escaping together with the Argentinean rider on his way to the seventh victory of the season. Nothing but the victory was good to become world champion and Dani overtook the Argentinean rider on the finish line, scoring the 25 points he needed to take his second World Championship title in the 250cc class with two races left for the end of the championship.

Top category
With three World Championships under his belt, the time to make the definitive jump into the MotoGP World Championship arrived in 2006. The time had come to debut in the top category and get on a MotoGP bike. And is there a better way of doing so than with the best team in the last decade, the Repsol Honda Team? Once again, with the on-going help of Alberto Puig, the change of category was planned with the care necessary for a challenge of this magnitude, concentrating on learning and adapting to the significant differences between a MotoGP bike with over 240bhp and 150 kilograms, and a 250cc bike with around 90bhp and 100 kilograms. The tough physical training carried out over the winter and constant progress in pre-season training sessions were the prelude to his extraordinary debut in the category, when he was proclaimed rookie of the year, after two wins, six podium finishes and 5th place in the overall championship standings.

In the first Grand Prix of the year, held in Jerez, the first glints of Pedrosa’s talent started to dazzle everyone, both his own team and others. In his first race in the category, at just twenty years old, he finished in an incredible second place, just a few tenths of a second behind the winner, veteran Loris Capirossi. After that first race, he continued to shine in the following races, with a larger or smaller dose of good luck, such as in Turkey when he fell in the final lap while battling with Melandri and Stoner to take the victory, he only took two weeks to achieve his first win in the top category. This was at the Chinese Grand Prix, where he achieved an historic win, accompanied on the podium by his team mate Nicky Hayden, once again confirming the huge potential of the Repsol Honda Team, who became the constructors’ champions of the at the end of the season.

From race to race, Pedrosa continued to leave signs of his promising future in the category, with passionate duels with Valentino Rossi and Marco Melandri in Germany and the Czech Republic. This season did not lack a certain dose of drama, such as in the penultimate test of the championship, when Nicky Hayden put a large part of his championship title hopes at risk. The scenario was the Estoril circuit, the fifth lap of the Grand Prix; Dani Pedrosa made a mistake that left both drivers on the ground, delaying the excitement of the championship to the final race in Valencia. In the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Cheste, excellent team work from the riders allowed Nicky Hayden to be crowned the MotoGP World Champion, the Repsol Honda team to take the constructors’ title and Dani Pedrosa to be proclaimed rookie of the year. The perfect end to an incredible year.

Runner-up in the World Championship
In 2007, Dani Pedrosa set out as one of the favourites to take the top category title, a year that started with a change in the MotoGP regulations, which obliged constructors to limit their engines to 800cc, and tyre suppliers to provide a set number of tyres for each race. From the start, three riders stood out as title hopefuls: the Repsol rider, Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner. The young Australian was not on many lists of favourites before the championship started, but with an impeccable season, he proved to be the rider that had best adapted to the change in the regulations and won the World Championship in 2007.

The season started with two podium finishes in the first two races, however, things changed in the next Grand Prix in Turkey. Pedrosa was knocked down by a rival in the first lap, and two weeks later, problems with his tyres left him far behind the leading group. Then came the French Grand Prix and the rain, the scenario in which Dani managed to shake off all of his past ghosts and put in a great performance, allowing him to finish fourth. The excitement and performance continued in races like Mugello or the Circuit de Catalunya, where once again he played a leading role in one of the most closely-fought races of the season, along with Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner.

However, the rain in England and set up problems in Holland, once again left him out of the leading positions, which he regained two weeks later at the German Grand Prix. This boosted his motivation in a season filled with complications, such as that which occurred one week later in Laguna Seca, where tyre problems left him in fifth place.

After the summer, things did not go much better, when once again he was knocked down by a rival in the first turn in the San Marino Grand Prix. In spite of this, Pedrosa was able to reward his fans with an exciting race on the Portuguese circuit of Estoril, in which he fought up until the last metre with an untiring Valentino Rossi, his rival for second place in the Championship. The final straight of the season stood out for the dominance of Dani in the training sessions, where he won the pole position in the last four tests. However, these good training sessions were not always repeated in races, due to falls in the rain in the Japanese Grand Prix, or tyre problems in Australia and Malaysia, where in spite of this he managed to finish on the third step of the podium.

His efforts throughout the season were finally rewarded in the last race of the championship in Valencia, where he achieved an outright victory that allowed him to become the runner-up in the World Championship. Eight podium finishes, two of them on the top step, sum up his second year in the top category and which set a solid base to extend his list of achievements in 2008.

Third season in MotoGP
In the first winter training sessions, held at the end of January in Malaysia, it was clear that things were not going to be easy. He clocked up the second best time of the day, but finished early due to an unfortunate fall in which he broke a metacarpal on his right hand and which determined his pre-season training and the beginning of the world championship, interrupting the development of the RC212V. Dani arrived at the first night race in history held in Qatar without having fully recovered and with a bike that was a long way off the ideal set up. However, after a huge effort from the team, and an outstanding performance from the Repsol rider, he took third place, which tasted of victory to him.

Victory arrived in the second race, in Jerez, where he swept the board in a faultless weekend. For the first time in his career, Pedrosa led the MotoGP World Championship standings, after riding out a disastrous winter. The Repsol rider secured his lead of the general standings by finishing second in both Portugal and China. However, in France, in spite of dominating the training session, problems with his front tyre stopped him from progressing further than fourth place. This was followed by a new podium finish in Muegello and another overwhelming victory in Catalonia.

Showing great consistency, Pedrosa finished third in Donington Park and second in Assen, recovering the championship lead that Valentino Rossi had snatch away from him in Le Mans. But then came Germany. Under torrential rain, Dani flew around the Sachsenring circuit towards a new overwhelming victory, confirming his progress under conditions that would have made him struggle in previous seasons, and which were going to allow him to extend his lead of the world championship. But he fell. He fractured his hand once again, which as well as leaving him without any points in Germany, prevented him from racing a week later in Laguna Seca.

After the summer, things did not improve in the Czech Republic, where serious tyre problems prevented him from scoring more than one point. He was out of the fight for the title, and now his aims focused on becoming competitive again as soon as possible. With this spirit, he finished fourth in Misano, but after the race, it was announced that the Repsol rider would use Bridgestone tyres on his Honda for the rest of the season.

In the final straight of the World Championship, the Continental Circus travelled to Indianapolis. With the tail of hurricane Ike lashing the country, Pedrosa finished eighth, two weeks before achieving his first podium finish on the new tyres. The following Sunday, an error threw him to the ground in the first lap, and he ended the season on the second step of the podium in Malaysia and Valencia. In the end, a season that had started full of doubt, showed a fantastic Dani Pedrosa dominating the World Championship up to half way through and ending his year in third place in the overall standings.

2009, third again, despite injuries
The 2009 season also started conditioned by injuries for the Repsol rider. Pedrosa had still not completely recovered from a wound on his left knee, which forced him to undergo surgery after a nasty fall in the second test of the year, missing the rest of the pre-season tests. Five weeks later, the Repsol rider confirmed in his blog that he would compete in the first Grand Prix of the season in Qatar. Physically weakened and without having completed development of his Repsol Honda RC212V, Pedrosa finished eleventh in an atypical race held on a Monday, due to the downpour that fell on Sunday when the MotoGP race was scheduled to start.

It did not take him long to get good results in the following races, with three podium finishes in a row in Japan, Spain and France. The improvement to his knee and physical form was apparent day to day, but when he was still a long way off being on top form, Pedrosa was injured during the practices of the fifth race of the season, in Italy. In the race, with the track half wet and half dry, after changing bike and affected by the previous day’s injury, Pedrosa fell, registering his first zero of the season. He arrived at the Catalonia Grand Prix without time to recover from his new injury, although he finished sixth, which contrasted with another fall in Holland.

After the fall he had to pick himself up again and he did so in the best way possible; with an unforgettable win at the spectacular Laguna Seca circuit, USA, where no other Spaniard had ever won before. Before the summer break, he reaped another podium finish in Germany, which contrasted with the problems he had in Donington Park, where he finished ninth. After the summer, he was second in the Czech Republic a week before returning to the USA, this time to Indianapolis. After dominating the practices and with his win in Laguna Seca still fresh in the minds of the fans, Pedrosa became the favourite to win, until he fell in the third lap, to finish tenth.

In the final races of the championship, the Repsol rider again demonstrated his consistency and talent. He did not step off the podium in the last five races, achieving three third places in San Marino, Portugal and Australia, a second place in Malaysia and another win in Valencia. He finished a difficult season in the best possible way, taking third place in the final overall standings.

Back in the battle for the title
After somewhat irregular pre-season tests, the Repsol Honda Team rider arrived to the Qatar Grand Prix full of confidence, but aware of the shortcomings of his RC212V. The first round of the calendar was difficult for the Spaniard, who had to settle for the seventh position. But in Jerez -his “lucky charm” track where he had already secured two wins and three second positions in the last five years- he got the pole position and finished second, in one of the hardest fought races of his career.

Over at Le Mans, Dani took part in his 150th race in the World Championship and, a corner before the end, he fell from third to fifth position. He had to wait for success until Italy, where he took the first step of the podium and reached the second place in the general classification. In Silverstone, he could do no better than the eighth position due to a mistake in the tyre choice. But in Assen and Montmelo he recovered again by taking two consecutives second places.

Pedrosa calmly faced the German Grand Prix and took his second win of the season. In Laguna Seca he tried to get his second win in a row, but crashed. After reaching the halfway point of the championship, he returned to the second step of the podium at the Czech Republic’s circuit.

The team’s great job and the consistent effort of the Repsol rider allowed him to achieve two consecutive victories: in Indianapolis – one of the most demanding tracks and in specially difficult conditions- and in San Marino, where he started from pole position and had then the opportunity to get a “hat-trick”. The third victory in a row just could not be, as in the first ever race held at the Aragon circuit Pedrosa finished second, a clear indication that the championship battle was still alive.

In the Motegi practice sessions, the Repsol Honda rider fell to the ground again and suffered a double collarbone fracture that retired him from competition for two grand prix: Japan and Malaysia. After undergoing surgery, Pedrosa was back to the competition in Australia, but after Saturday practice, the Catalan rider realized that it was too soon. It was finally in Portugal were Dani Pedrosa reappeared and he achieved a well-deserved eighth position, despite his injury still bothering him. In the last round of the World Championship he finished seventh, which was enough to keep his place as runner-up. A superb result after missing some rounds and not being able to compete at his best.

New victories and new setbacks
The 2011 preseason in Sepang was one of the most promising of recent years. The Repsol Honda Team dominated the timesheets in the tests scheduled before the season-opening Qatar GP and Dani Pedrosa established himself as a clear title contender. The Repsol rider and the RC212CV were ready to push for the highest honour in the World Championship.

However, the start of his tenth season in Grand Prix racing was not the smooth title push that he expected. It began with a creditable third at the Losail International circuit, but the result was accompanied by the reappearance of a left collarbone injury inflicted upon the Spaniard the previous season. He fought through the setback to win at the next race in Jerez, but took advantage of the gap in the calendar left by the postponed Japanese Grand Prix to undergo surgery.

His return in Portugal brought a win and took Pedrosa right back into the battle for the title. However, one race later a crash caused in a controversial overtaking move by the late Marco Simoncelli would put an end to any hope of taking the crown. The collarbone fracture suffered in the collision at Le Mans meant that a second operation of the season was required and that he would miss the following three races. It would not be until the Italian Grand Prix that Pedrosa would make his comeback, with an eight place finish.

Fitter one race later, the Repsol rider claimed win number two of the season the next time out in Germany. It was just reward after some difficult months and followed by another podium at Laguna Seca —a position which reiterated that he was back to his best. His most successful spell of the year arrived after a tough race at Brno: Three second places in Indianapolis, San Marino and Aragón were capped off by a magnificent victory in Japan —Spain’s 400th GP win.

With fourth place at Phillip Island, a cancelled Malaysian GP due to the tragic death of Marco Simoncelli and a fifth place at the season finale in Valencia, Pedrosa finished the season in a bittersweet fourth place overall, with three wins and nine podiums. He failed to take points in five races through crashes and injuries.

2012 His best season so far

In 2012, Dani Pedrosa had his best season in the MotoGP premier class. The seven victories and fifteen podiums were his most successful statistics at the top level, and his win total was one more than eventual World Champion, Jorge Lorenzo. Wary of his bad experiences of injuries early on in previous years, Pedrosa rode prudently for second and third places in the opening races, before launching his title challenge in earnest. Races like Brno and a record of seven wins from eight races in the second part of the campaign.

Dani Pedrosa showed that he was a more well-rounded rider in 2012 than in previous years, taking a valuable wet weather victory and improving his ability to bash fairings alongside his rivals. The stats from the end of the season reflect this: He topped the podium on seven occasions (Germany, Indianapolis, Czech Republic, Aragón, Japan, Malaysia and Valencia), placed second in Qatar, Catalonia, Holland and Italy, and was third in the Spanish, Portuguese, British and US Grands Prix. He finished fourth in just one race –the French GP.

Pedrosa has resided in Switzerland for a number of years, in the tranquility of the mountains and with the opportunity to enjoy his passions, which include cycling, supermotard, motocross and trial riding. When relaxing, he likes to go to the cinema and spend time with his friends. Playing computer games is a form of active rest for the Spaniard, who feels that bike and car racing games are very similar to reality. The circuits at which he races now are imprinted in his memory from his days as a mere fan, watching 500cc races featuring Rainey, Lawson and his favourite: Mick Doohan.