DANI PEDROSA

PERSONAL DETAILS

NAME:	DANI PEDROSA
TEAM:
NATIONALITY:	SPANISH
DATE OF BIRTH:	29 SEPTEMBER 1985
MARRIED:	SINGLE

RECORD TO END 2009

WINS:

8 8 (MOTOGP) 15 (250CC) 8 (125CC)

POLES:

14 (14 (MOTOGP) 9 (250CC) 9 (125CC)

FASTEST LAPS:

15 (15 (MOTOGP) 15 (250CC) 5 (125CC)

DEBUT:	SPA 2006 (MOTOGP)
DRIVEN FOR:	REPSOL HONDA (2006-2010)

CAREER

Dani Pedrosa is the most prolific active MotoGP winner in Spain, a country which takes its motorcycle racing very seriously. Now a mature and seasoned 24, Pedrosa is the quintessential rising star, having dazzled at every step of his career.

Hand-picked to move to the World Championship after impressing in the 1999 Movistar Activa Cup, a series meant to foster young talent in Spain, Pedrosa moved to the world stage in 2001 and began to re-write the record books. He won twice in 2002, then secured the 2003 125cc World Championship with five wins.

The following year he won the 250cc title in his first try and repeated in 2005. By the time he was 20, he’d already won three world championships and was ready to move to the senior class. On the podium in his very first MotoGP race, Pedrosa took his maiden MotoGP win three races later, making him the youngest rider to have won GP’s in all three classes, with all of his success coming on Hondas .

The hotbed of Spanish motorcycle racing is in the area surrounding Barcelona, which is where Pedrosa was born, in the suburb of Sabadell. Like most riders, he began on minibikes, riding with outrigger wheels while a four-year-old and soon showing his skills on the local go-kart tracks. His seriousness about racing came into focus as a ten-year-old when he won the Spanish minibike series in 1998. Then came the move to the Activa Cup, a series featuring identically prepared RS125 race bikes supplied by Honda Spain and backed by Telefonica Movistar.

Pedrosa’s destiny would be decided when he drew the attention of Alberto Puig, a former GP winner who had established a successful second career in fostering young talent. Puig was impressed by his fellow Spaniard’s abilities and he arranged for Pedrosa to move to the 125cc World Championship in 2001. His ascent was swift. The first of his now 31 GP wins came in Assen in 2002 and in 2003 he won the first of his world championships.

A promotion to the 250cc class followed in 2004. Now aboard a Honda RS250W, Pedrosa won a thrilling season-opener in South Africa, quickly following it up with a win in the third race in Spain. He secured the title by 61 points and won the 2005 by almost as many. MotoGP beckoned, with Pedrosa winning twice aboard the Repsol Honda RC212V in his rookie season. In more than six decades of GP racing, Pedrosa is the third youngest rider to have won a premier-class GP, after Honda hero Freddie Spencer and the late Norick Abe.

The move to 800’s in 2007 allowed Pedrosa to showcase the high speed cornering technique he’d developed in the smaller classes. Two wins came en route to second in the season point standings. Pedrosa started strong in 2008, finishing on the podium nine times, including two wins, which catapulted him into the championship lead. But a hand injury, suffered while leading the German GP, would derail his title hopes. A strong end of season push-three podiums in the final four races-guaranteed him third overall. Eleven podiums in 17 races, including two wins, netted him third in the 2009 championship.

Pedrosa has always been seen as introspective and taciturn, but the Spaniard showed a keen wit and fine sense of humor this year in allowing his personality to shine through. On the track, his concentration is unparalleled and it’s that quality that most impresses his rivals. He is at his most dangerous if he can bolt from the start, setting a pace that few can match. Motorcycles play a central part in his life away from the paddock as evidenced by a garage filled with motocross, trials, and supermotard Hondas. His fitness regimen includes bicycling and when not training, his hobbies including movies, computer games, and the companionship of lifelong friends.

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