Dani Pedrosa

Daniel Pedrosa Ramal (born 29 September 1985) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer who retired from regular competition after the season.

He grew up in Castellar del Vallès, a village near Sabadell.

In 2001, Pedrosa made his World Championship debut in the 125cc class after being selected from the Movistar Activa Cup, a series designed to promote fresh racing talent in Spain, back in 1999.

Under the guidance of Alberto Puig, Pedrosa scored two podium finishes in the first season and won his first race the following year, when he finished third in the championship.

He is a three-time World Champion being the 125cc world champion in 2003, 250cc world champion in 2004, the youngest ever to win it and repeated it in 2005.

Pedrosa is a test and development rider for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

In 2021, he returned to race for KTM as a wildcard rider in Austria at the Styrian Grand Prix, followed by two outings in 2023, resulting in placing 6th and 7th at Jerez and two 4th places at Misano.

Pedrosa is best known for his time with the Repsol Honda Team in the MotoGP class finishing championship runner-up in, and and is one of the most successful modern MotoGP riders with 31 MotoGP victories and 112 podiums.

In 2003, he won five races and won the championship with two rounds remaining, scoring 223 points.

In his first championship-winning year, Pedrosa scored five victories and six podium finishes.

A week after winning the championship, eighteen-year-old Pedrosa broke both of his ankles in a crash during practice at Phillip Island, ending his season.

After winning the 125cc Championship, Pedrosa moved up to the 250cc class in 2004 without a proper test on the new bike because his ankles were healing during the off-season.

Going into the season unprepared, Pedrosa won the first race in South Africa and went on to clinch the 250cc World Championship title, including rookie of the year honours.

In his first season in the 250cc class, Pedrosa scored 7 victories and 13 podium finishes.

Pedrosa decided to stay for one more season in the 250cc class, and he won another title, once again with two races remaining in the championship.

In 2005, Pedrosa won 8 races and scored 14 podium finishes, despite a shoulder injury he sustained in a practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Pedrosa made the move to 990cc MotoGP bikes in, riding for Repsol Honda.

Critics said that Pedrosa's tiny stature was not strong enough to handle a big, heavy MotoGP bike and successfully race in the premier class.

Proving critics wrong, he finished second in the opening round at Jerez on 26 March 2006.

At his fourth ever MotoGP appearance, on 14 May 2006, during the Chinese Grand Prix, he won his first race.

This win made him the equal 2nd youngest winner (tied with Norick Abe) in the premier class at the time, behind Freddie Spencer.

He won his second MotoGP race at Donington Park and became a strong candidate for the MotoGP Championship.

It was a memorable victory for Pedrosa, who shared the podium for the first time with Valentino Rossi in 2nd place.

He also took two pole positions in the first half of the season.

Until the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, Pedrosa was 2nd in the Championship only behind his more experienced teammate Nicky Hayden.

However, he fell heavily during free practice and suffered a severe gash to the knee, which practically rendered him immobile.

Pedrosa qualified 5th on the grid in that race after heavy rain cancelled the qualifying session.

He managed to finish 3rd in the race, behind Rossi and Ducati rider Loris Capirossi.

However, in the next races, his form dropped and he struggled with the bike, moving him down to 5th place in the MotoGP standings.

His poor performance continued at Estoril.

After a promising start, he briefly ran 2nd before being passed by Colin Edwards and then championship leader and teammate Hayden.

On lap 5, he and Hayden were involved in a crash.

Pedrosa made a mistake whilst trying to overtake Hayden, slid and crashed out of the race, taking out Hayden on the way.

In 2019, the former Curva Dry Sac, a corner at the Spanish Circuito de Jerez, was renamed Curva Dani Pedrosa (English: Dani Pedrosa Corner) in his honour.

He has been described as the best MotoGP rider to have never won a MotoGP World Championship.

Pedrosa also competed in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe in 2022, driving for FFF Racing Team.

Born in Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain, Pedrosa started riding bikes at the early age of four, when he got his first motorcycle, an Italjet 50, which had side-wheels.

His first racing bike was a minibike replica of a Kawasaki, which he got at the age of six and which he used to race with his friends.

Pedrosa experienced real racing at the age of 9 when he entered the Spanish Minibike Championship and ended his debut season in second place, scoring his first podium finish in the second race of the season.

The next year, Pedrosa entered the same championship, but health problems prevented him from improving his results, and he ended that season in 3rd position.