Daniel Pedrosa Ramal (born 29 September 1985) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer who retired from regular competition after the 2018 season.
[6] 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
This result clinched his 5th place in overall standings in his debut season, thus taking the title as Rookie of the Year, beating former 250cc rival Casey Stoner.
At the end of season three-day test of 2006 at Jerez, Pedrosa put his 800 cc RC212V at the top of the timesheets (on qualifying tyres) edging out Rossi, who had been fastest on the first two days, by 0.214 seconds.
The machine had problems,[8] and Pedrosa was taken out of races by Olivier Jacque and by Randy de Puniet, but he finished the season in second place behind Stoner and ahead of Rossi.
[9] In 2008 Pedrosa's problems with the RC212V continued when he was injured in the pre-season and missed developmental testing, but started the season well by scoring a podium at the first round.
[18] Simoncelli was given a ride-through penalty, while the fall left Pedrosa with a broken collarbone,[19] which ruled him out until July's Italian Grand Prix, where he finished in eighth place.
Pedrosa claimed his second victory of the season at the German Grand Prix, after taking advantage of an error by Lorenzo with nine laps left in the race.
[27] At the Italian Grand Prix, it was announced that Pedrosa had signed a two-year contract extension with the Repsol Honda team from 2013 onwards, and would be partnered by Moto2 front-runner Marc Márquez.
Following the summer break, Pedrosa scored his second victory of the season at Indianapolis, winning from pole position as well as setting a lap record during the race.
[31] At Misano, Pedrosa qualified on pole for the race,[32] which was then delayed after Karel Abraham's Ducati stalled just before the start, forcing the riders to complete a second parade lap.
[41] He was involved in a three-way rivalry with Yamaha riders Lorenzo and Rossi to finish as the overall championship runner-up, but had to settle for fourth place after failing to score any points in the races at Phillip Island and Sepang.
Pedrosa achieved his first victory of the season – the fiftieth of his career, becoming the eighth rider to reach that mark – in drying conditions at Motegi.
A highside crash in free practice 2 at Motegi essentially ended Pedrosa's season, with a fractured right collarbone, right fibula,[50] and left foot[51] causing him to miss the three flyaway races while undergoing and recovering from the 14th major surgery of his career.
Following the fact that Honda didn't renew his contract for the 2019 season, with Jorge Lorenzo taking his place,[54] Pedrosa announced in a press conference at the German Grand Prix on 12 July that he would retire from the MotoGP world championship by the end of 2018.
[1] In late October 2018, it was confirmed Pedrosa signed for the KTM Factory Racing team as a development test rider for 2019 and 2020, shockingly ending his long association with Honda.
Pedrosa later softened this stance in early 2020, saying "he would now consider a return to MotoGP as a wildcard entrant, should KTM require him to test the RC16 in race conditions.
[57] After the restriction was lifted, Pedrosa made his return to the MotoGP grid as a wildcard entry at the 2021 Styrian motorcycle Grand Prix, finishing in tenth place.
After finishing his first season in Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Pedrosa stated that he had no current plans to continue racing in the series, although he was open to offers; he reiterated that he feels that he is "far from the level required to compete in GT3 machinery", but he felt he would "do well in a prototype".
1949 B. Ruffo 1950 D. Ambrosini 1951 B. Ruffo 1952 E. Lorenzetti 1953 W. Haas 1954 W. Haas 1955 H. Müller 1956 C. Ubbiali 1957 C. Sandford 1958 T. Provini 1959 C. Ubbiali 1960 C. Ubbiali 1961 M. Hailwood 1962 J. Redman 1963 J. Redman 1964 P. Read 1965 P. Read 1966 M. Hailwood 1967 M. Hailwood 1968 P. Read 1969 K. Carruthers 1970 R. Gould 1971 P. Read 1972 J. Saarinen 1973 D. Braun 1974 W. Villa 1975 W. Villa 1976 W. Villa 1977 M. Lega 1978 K. Ballington 1979 K. Ballington 1980 A. Mang 1981 A. Mang 1982 J. Tournadre 1983 C. Lavado 1984 C. Sarron 1985 F. Spencer 1986 C. Lavado 1987 A. Mang 1988 S. Pons 1989 S. Pons 1990 J. Kocinski 1991 L. Cadalora 1992 L. Cadalora 1993 T. Harada 1994 M. Biaggi 1995 M. Biaggi 1996 M. Biaggi 1997 M. Biaggi 1998 L. Capirossi 1999 V. Rossi 2000 O. Jacque 2001 D. Kato 2002 M. Melandri 2003 M. Poggiali 2004 D. Pedrosa 2005 D. Pedrosa 2006 J. Lorenzo 2007 J. Lorenzo 2008 M. Simoncelli 2009 H. Aoyama 2010 T. Elías 2011 S. Bradl 2012 M. Márquez 2013 P. Espargaró 2014 T. Rabat 2015 J. Zarco 2016 J. Zarco 2017 F. Morbidelli 2018 F. Bagnaia 2019 Á. Márquez 2020 E. Bastianini 2021 R. Gardner 2022 A. Fernández 2023 P. Acosta 2024 A. Ogura 1949 N. Pagani 1950 B. Ruffo 1951 C. Ubbiali 1952 C. Sandford 1953 W. Haas 1954 R. Hollaus 1955 C. Ubbiali 1956 C. Ubbiali 1957 T. Provini 1958 C. Ubbiali 1959 C. Ubbiali 1960 C. Ubbiali 1961 T. Phillis 1962 L. Taveri 1963 H. Anderson 1964 L. Taveri 1965 H. Anderson 1966 L. Taveri 1967 B. Ivy 1968 P. Read 1969 D. Simmonds 1970 D. Braun 1971 Á. Nieto 1972 Á. Nieto 1973 K. Andersson 1974 K. Andersson 1975 P. Pileri 1976 P. Bianchi 1977 P. Bianchi 1978 E. Lazzarini 1979 Á. Nieto 1980 P. Bianchi 1981 Á. Nieto 1982 Á. Nieto 1983 Á. Nieto 1984 Á. Nieto 1985 F. Gresini 1986 L. Cadalora 1987 F. Gresini 1988 J. Martínez 1989 À. Crivillé 1990 L. Capirossi 1991 L. Capirossi 1992 A. Gramigni 1993 D. Raudies 1994 K. Sakata 1995 H. Aoki 1996 H. Aoki 1997 V. Rossi 1998 K. Sakata 1999 E. Alzamora 2000 R. Locatelli 2001 M. Poggiali 2002 A. Vincent 2003 D. Pedrosa 2004 A. Dovizioso 2005 T. Lüthi 2006 Á. Bautista 2007 G. Talmácsi 2008 M. Di Meglio 2009 J. Simón 2010 M. Márquez 2011 N. Terol 2012 S. Cortese 2013 M. Viñales 2014 Á. Márquez 2015 D. Kent 2016 B. Binder 2017 J. Mir 2018 J. Martín 2019 L. Dalla Porta 2020 A. Arenas 2021 P. Acosta 2022 I. Guevara 2023 J. Masià 2024 D. Alonso Freddie Spencer, Takazumi Katayama, Randy Mamola, Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, Daryl Beattie, Àlex Crivillé, Tadayuki Okada Valentino Rossi, Tohru Ukawa, Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, Casey Stoner, Marc Márquez