daniel pedrosa

Dani Pedrosa
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Dani Pedrosa
Dani Pedrosa
Nationality
Spanish
Date of birth
September 29, 1985 (1985-09-29) (age 23)
Place of birth
Sabadell, Spain
Website
danipedrosa.com
MotoGP Record
Current team
Repsol Honda Team
Bike number
3
Championships
3125cc: 2003250cc: 2004, 2005
Race starts
138
Wins
30
Podium finishes
72
Pole positions
30
Fastest laps
29
Points
1990
2009 championship position
4th (108 pts)
Daniel Pedrosa Ramal (born September 29, 1985 in Sabadell, Spain) is a Grand Prix motorcycle racer. Pedrosa grew up in a village near Sabadell called Castellar del Vallès. He is the youngest world champion in 250cc Grands Prix. Pedrosa is 1.58m (5ft 2in) tall and weighs 51 kg (112.4lbs).
Contents[hide]
1 Career
1.1 Early days
1.2 125cc
1.3 250cc
1.4 MotoGP
1.5 Injuries
2 Career statistics
2.1 By Seasons
2.2 By class
2.3 Races by year
3 References
4 External links
//

[edit] Career

[edit] Early days
Dani 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 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.

[edit] 125cc
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. 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 (Australia), ending his season.

[edit] 250cc
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 250cc class, Pedrosa scored 7 victories and 13 podium finishes. Pedrosa decided to stay for one more season in 250cc class, and he won another title, once again with two races remaining in championship. In 2005, Pedrosa won 8 races and scored 14 podium finishes, despite a shoulder injury he sustained in practice session for Japanese Grand Prix.

[edit] MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa on board the Repsol Honda RC211V.
Pedrosa made the move to 990cc MotoGP bikes in 2006, riding for Repsol Honda. Critics said that Pedrosa's tiny stature wasn't strong enough to handle a big, heavy MotoGP bike and successfully race in the premier class. Proving them wrong, he finished second in the opening round at Jerez on March 26, 2006. At his fourth ever MotoGP appearance, on May 14, 2006, during the Chinese Grand Prix race weekend held in Shanghai, he won his first MotoGP race. This win made him the exact equal 2nd youngest winner (tied with the late Norick Abe) in the Premier Class[1] 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 Dani, who shared the podium first time with Valentino Rossi in 2nd place. He also took 2 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 team-mate 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 due to the cancellation of the qualifying session proper due to heavy rainfall. He miraculously managed to finish 3rd in that race, only 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 Nicky 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. This crash ended his slim chances of winning the championship and also caused Hayden to lose his lead in the championship standings, as Rossi managed to finish 2nd.
However, two weeks later, Hayden recovered to win the championship while Pedrosa managed to finish in 4th place. This result clinched his 5th place in overall standings in his debut season, thus taking the title as Rookie of the Year in MotoGP category, beating fellow rookie and former rival in 250 cc Casey Stoner. At the final (post 2006 season) three day test of 2006 at Jerez Spain, Dani put his 800 cc RC212V at the top of the timesheets (on qualifying tyres) edging out Valentino Rossi by 0.214 seconds. Rossi had been fastest for the first two days of the test. Dani set a time of 1min 39.910 sec around the circuit.
Pedrosa continued to race with Honda in 2007 on their Honda RC212V, the new 800 cc bike. The machine had problems[2], 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. He signed a 2-year contract with Repsol Honda for 2008 and 2009.[3]
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.[4] While leading the race and the standings in the German round, he crashed and was injured, keeping him from racing in the following two rounds. Michelin's performance in MotoGP deteriorated, resulting in Pedrosa switching to Bridgestone at the Indianapolis round.[5][6] He finished third in the standings in 2008.
As in 2008, Pedrosa crashed in the 2009 pre-season and injured himself, keeping him from testing the machine before the start of the season. He placed 11th in the first round, but recovered his fitness in the following rounds.[7] At the fifth round he injured himself again in practice and then fell during the race, putting him 33 points behind the leader.[8]

[edit] Injuries
2003 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix (125cc) Double fracture in the talus bone of the left foot and a fracture of the right ankle.
2005 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix (250cc) Fracture of the left humeral head that affected the supraspinal tendon.
2006 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) Small fracture of the small left toe and loss of cutaneous matter on the right knee. 5 stitches in that vertical cut.
2007 Turkish motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) Thoracic trauma, blow to the left gluteus and neck trauma.
2007 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) Post-traumatic arthritis with inflammation to the small toe of the left foot.
2008 Sepang test 2008 (MotoGP) Fracture of the second metacarpal in the right hand, with three diaphyseal fragments, which are the bones that are found in the middle part of the metacarpus.
2008 German motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) General inflammation of the left hand with hematomas in the veins of the extensor tendons. Displaced fracture of the distal phalanx of the left index finger. A sprain of the interphalangeal articulation next to the left middle finger. Fracture of the large bone of the left wrist. Sprain of the lateral external ligament of the right ankle.
2008 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) Capsular hematoma on the left knee that had to be treated two months after.
2009 Qatar test (MotoGP) Fracture of the radius of the left arm and contusion on the left knee that required a skin graft, because the scar re-opened from an operation before Christmas.
2009 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) Incomplete fracture of the greater trochanter of the right femur. A fracture without displacement, an injury that requires absolute rest and treatment with painkillers.[9]

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] By Seasons
Seas
Class
Moto
Team
Race
Win
Pod
Pole
FLap
Pts
Plcd
WCh
2001
125cc
Honda RS125R
16
0
2
0
0
100
8th
-
2002
125cc
Honda RS125R
16
3
9
6
2
243
3rd
-
2003
125cc
Honda RS125R
14
5
6
3
3
223
1st
1
2004
250cc
Honda RS250RW
16
7
13
4
8
317
1st
1
2005
250cc
Honda RS250RW
16
8
11
5
7
309
1st
1
2006
MotoGP
Honda RC211V
Honda-HRC
17
2
8
4
4
215
5th
-
2007
MotoGP
Honda RC212V
Honda-HRC
18
2
8
5
3
242
2nd
-
2008
MotoGP
Honda RC212V
Honda-HRC
17
2
11
2
2
249
3rd
-
2009
MotoGP
Honda RC212V
Honda-HRC
8
1
4
1
1
92*
4th*
-
Total
131
29
68
29
29
1903
3
* Season in progress.

[edit] By class
Class
Seas
1st GP
1st Pod
1st Win
Race
Win
Podiums
Pole
FLap
Pts
WChmp
125 cc
2001-2003
2001 Japan
2001 Valencia
2002 Dutch
46
8
17
9
5
566
1
250 cc
2004-2005
2004 S. Africa
2004 S. Africa
2004 S. Africa
32
15
24
9
15
626
2
MotoGP
2006-Present
2006 Spain
2006 Spain
2006 China
53
6
30
11
9
711
0
Total
2001-Present
131
29
68
29
29
1903
3

[edit] Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Year
Class
Bike
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Pos
Pts
2001
125 cc
Honda
JPN18
RSA13
SPA10
FRA17
ITA23
CAT7
NEDRet
GBR12
GER11
CZE8
POR5
VAL3
PAC3
AUS7
MAL4
BRARet
8th
100
2002
125 cc
Honda
JPN8
RSA3
SPA4
FRA3
ITA4
CAT2
NED1
GBR2
GER7
CZE2
POR10
BRARet
PAC1
MAL3
AUS5
VAL1
3rd
243
2003
125 cc
Honda
JPN8
RSA1
SPA4
FRA1
ITA2
CAT1
NED8
GBRRet
GER4
CZE1
POR4
BRA4
PAC6
MAL1
AUSInj
VALInj
1st
223
2004
250 cc
Honda
RSA1
SPARet
FRA1
ITA2
CAT2
NED2
BRA2
GER1
GBR1
CZE3
POR4
JPN1
QAT2
MAL1
AUS4
VAL1
1st
317
2005
250 cc
Honda
SPA1
POR4
CHN6
FRA1
ITA1
CAT1
NED2
GBR4
GER1
CZE1
JPN2
MALRet
QAT4
AUS1
TUR2
VAL1
1st
309
2006
MotoGP
Honda
SPA2
QAT6
TUR14
CHN1
FRA3
ITA4
CATRet
NED3
GBR1
GER4
USA2
CZE3
MAL3
AUS15
JPN7
PORRet
VAL4
5th
215
2007
MotoGP
Honda
QAT3
SPA2
TURRet
CHN4
FRA4
ITA2
CAT3
GBR8
NED4
GER1
USA5
CZE4
RSMRet
POR2
JPNRet
AUS4
MAL3
VAL1
2nd
242
2008
MotoGP
Honda
QAT3
SPA1
POR2
CHN2
FRA4
ITA3
CAT1
GBR3
NED2
GERRet
USAInj
CZE15
RSM4
IND8
JPN3
AUSRet
MAL2
VAL2
3rd
249
2009
MotoGP
Honda
QAT11
JPN3
SPA2
FRA3
ITARet
CAT6
NEDRet
USA1
GER3
GBR9
CZE2
IND
SMR
POR
AUS
MAL
VAL
4th*
115*
* Season In Progress

[edit] References
^ "Dani Pedrosa". motogp.com. http://www.motogp.com/en/riders/profiles/Dani+Pedrosa. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
^ Freeman, Glenn (2007-05-10). "Honda admit mistakes with 800cc bike" (in English). Autosport.com. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/58659. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
^ Moody, Toby (2007-09-21). "Pedrosa confirmed until 2009". http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/62588.
^ Noyes, Dennis (2008-04-01). "Looking Back on Jerez" (in English). SpeedTV.com. http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-looking-back-on-jerez/. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
^ Noyes, Dennis (2008-08-26). "Michelin’s Last Stand (Part I)" (in English). SpeedTV.com. http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-michelins-last-stand-part-i//P3/. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
^ "Pedrosa switches to Bridgestone" (in English). BBC Sport. 2008-08-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/7590833.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
^ "Pedrosa top scorer since Motegi" (in English). Crash.net. 2009-05-27. http://www.crash.net/MotoGP/News/147469/1/pedrosa_top_scorer_since_motegi.html. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
^ "Scans confirm Pedrosa hip injury" (in English). Crash.net. 2009-06-01. http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/147772/1/scans_confirm_pedrosa_hip_injury.html. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
^ "Pedrosa es duda para Montmeló por su lesión" (in Spanish). As.com. 2009-06-02. http://www.as.com/motor/articulo/motociclismo-pedrosa-duda-montmelo-lesion/daimot/20090602dasdaimot_3/Tes. Retrieved 2009-06-02.