Daniel Pedrosa Ramal was born on 29 September 1985 and is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer who retired from regular competition after the 2018 season.
59 Facts About Dani Pedrosa
2.
Dani Pedrosa grew up in Castellar del Valles, a village near Sabadell.
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Dani Pedrosa 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.
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Dani Pedrosa is best known for his time with the Repsol Honda Team in the MotoGP class finishing championship runner-up in 2007,2010 and 2012 and is one of the most successful modern MotoGP riders with 31 MotoGP victories and 112 podiums.
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Dani Pedrosa has been described as the best MotoGP rider to have never won a MotoGP World Championship.
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Dani Pedrosa's 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.
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Dani 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.
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The next year, Dani Pedrosa entered the same championship, but health problems prevented him from improving his results, and he ended that season in 3rd position.
9.
In 2001, Dani 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.
10.
Under the guidance of Alberto Puig, Dani Pedrosa scored two podium finishes in the first season and won his first race the following year, when he finished third in the championship.
11.
Dani Pedrosa decided to stay for one more season in the 250cc class, and he won another title, with two races remaining in the championship.
12.
In 2005, Dani Pedrosa won 8 races and scored 14 podium finishes, despite a shoulder injury he sustained in a practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix.
13.
Dani Pedrosa made the move to 990cc MotoGP bikes in 2006, riding for Repsol Honda.
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Dani Pedrosa won his second MotoGP race at Donington Park and became a strong candidate for the MotoGP Championship.
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Dani Pedrosa took two pole positions in the first half of the season.
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Until the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, Dani Pedrosa was 2nd in the Championship only behind his more experienced teammate Nicky Hayden.
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Dani Pedrosa managed to finish 3rd in the race, behind Rossi and Ducati rider Loris Capirossi.
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Dani Pedrosa made a mistake whilst trying to overtake Hayden, slid and crashed out of the race, taking out Hayden on the way.
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However, two weeks later, Hayden recovered to win the championship while Dani Pedrosa managed to finish in 4th place.
20.
Dani Pedrosa continued to race with Honda in 2007 on their Honda RC212V, the new 800 cc bike.
21.
The machine had problems, and Dani 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.
22.
Dani Pedrosa signed a 2-year contract with Repsol Honda for 2008 and 2009.
23.
Michelin's performance in MotoGP deteriorated, resulting in Dani Pedrosa switching to Bridgestone at the Indianapolis round.
24.
Dani Pedrosa placed 11th in the first round, but recovered his fitness in the following rounds.
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Dani Pedrosa took this decision to please his fans who had asked him to return to the number he had always used.
26.
Dani Pedrosa won four races in 2010 and finished second in the championship standings behind Jorge Lorenzo.
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Dani Pedrosa remained with an expanded three-rider Repsol Honda team in 2011, partnering Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner.
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Dani 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.
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Dani Pedrosa finished third at Laguna Seca the following weekend, before taking his first pole position of the season at the Czech Grand Prix.
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Dani Pedrosa remained with Repsol Honda into the 2012 season, again partnering Stoner in a reduced two-bike effort.
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Dani Pedrosa finished six of the first seven races on the podium, with a best result of second on three occasions.
32.
Dani Pedrosa won his first race of the season at the German Grand Prix, winning at the Sachsenring for the third year in succession; Pedrosa and Stoner had been running one-two in the race, before Stoner crashed on the final lap.
33.
At the Italian Grand Prix, it was announced that Dani 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 Marquez.
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Dani Pedrosa finished that weekend's race second, before a third place at the United States Grand Prix.
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Dani Pedrosa followed that victory up with another at Brno, prevailing after a final-lap battle with main title rival Jorge Lorenzo.
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However, Dani Pedrosa had to start the race from the back, due to a rules infraction relating to the start procedure.
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Dani Pedrosa had managed to make his way into the top ten on the opening lap before he was taken out by Hector Barbera, losing ground to Lorenzo, who won the race.
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Dani Pedrosa finished the 2012 season as runner-up to Lorenzo with 332 points, the highest number of points ever gained without taking the title at the time.
39.
Dani Pedrosa remained with Repsol Honda into the 2013 season partnering new teammate Marc Marquez.
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Dani Pedrosa won races in Spain, France, and Malaysia but missed the race in Germany, due to injury.
41.
Dani Pedrosa failed to finish in Aragon after contact with Marquez.
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Dani Pedrosa obtained 300 points for the season, and finished in third place in the championship, behind Jorge Lorenzo and Marquez, who won the championship.
43.
Dani Pedrosa remained with Repsol Honda into the 2014 season, again partnering Marquez and started the season positively, by recording four consecutive podium finishes.
44.
Dani Pedrosa 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.
45.
Dani Pedrosa remained with Repsol Honda into the 2015 season, and took a sixth-place finish in the opening race in Qatar.
46.
Dani Pedrosa returned to racing at Le Mans but he crashed at the Dunlop chicane; he remounted and could only finish in sixteenth place, before he finished in fourth place at Mugello.
47.
Dani Pedrosa claimed his first podium of the season at the Catalan Grand Prix, finishing third behind the Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, before he finished in eighth place at Assen.
48.
The victory ensured that Dani Pedrosa completed a fourteenth successive season with at least one win.
49.
Dani Pedrosa began the season with a fifth-place finish in Qatar, and placed in the top five in each of the first seven rounds apart from Texas, with third place podium finishes in Argentina and Catalunya.
50.
Dani Pedrosa struggled with setup and the Michelin tires through the next several cold and rain-hit rounds.
51.
Dani Pedrosa returned to the top five in Great Britain and achieved his first and only win of the season with a strong performance at Misano.
52.
Dani Pedrosa returned for the final race of the season but crashed out of the race.
53.
Dani Pedrosa finished sixth in the championship standings, his worst finish to a season since his rookie year in the premier class.
54.
Dani Pedrosa was contracted to continue racing for Repsol Honda for 2017 and 2018.
55.
In 2017, Dani Pedrosa achieved two wins and a further seven podium finishes to ultimately finish the championship in fourth position with 210 points.
56.
Dani Pedrosa completed a difficult season in 2018, achieving no wins and no podiums for the first time in his MotoGP career.
57.
Dani Pedrosa finished the season in 11th position of the riders' championship, his worst-ever result and only second time outside of the top five.
58.
In late October 2018, it was confirmed Dani Pedrosa signed for the KTM Factory Racing team as a development test rider for 2019 and 2020, shocklingly ending his long association with Honda.
59.
Dani Pedrosa initially dismissed notions of making wildcard entries to races with KTM, as is often typical for development riders, and even refused to replace Johann Zarco for the remainder of the 2019 season after the Frenchman's sudden decision to end his contract at KTM.