Second place has great significance: Dani Pedrosa has fond memories of his duel with Valentino Rossi and rates the 2015 Aragon Grand Prix as one of his highlights
From 2001 to 2024, Dani Pedrosa took part in a total of 299 Grand Prix weekends. Looking back, the Spaniard rates a second place as one of his career highlights. In the 2015 MotoGP season, Pedrosa dueled with Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi at his home race in Aragon and came out on top in the duel with the “Doctor”.
“Aragon 2015 is one of my favorite races. The duel with Valentino was one of my favorite duels,” Pedrosa looks back on the MotoGP.com podcast. But the World Championship successes in the 250cc World Championship also mean a lot to Pedrosa: “My best moments were the World Championship titles and some of my victories.”
At the end of 2018, Pedrosa retired from MotoGP after 13 years with Repsol-Honda. His final season in the premier class was the only year in which he failed to achieve a victory. In addition, Pedrosa finished outside the top 10 for the first time in the overall standings.
Misano 2012 still hurts twelve years later
“The final part of my career was emotionally difficult. Racing no longer gave me as much joy,” admits the former MotoGP runner-up. Pedrosa finished the season in second place overall three times and in third place overall three times.
In the 2012 season, Pedrosa dueled with compatriot Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) for the title. With seven race wins, Pedrosa was more successful than Lorenzo, who only won six races. Especially in the second half of the season, Pedrosa was in impressive form. He won six of the final eight races.
He won the race in Indianapolis and then triumphed in Brno as well. Pedrosa was the favorite in Misano, but a tire warmer got stuck in the front wheel of the Honda RC213V on the grid and Pedrosa had to start the race from the back of the grid. His race to catch up ended after a collision with Hector Barbera in turn 8.
“The most difficult moments were Misano 2012, when I lost the championship because so much crap happened,” Pedrosa looks back. “The crash in Aragon 2013 was also a difficult moment. It was hard to swallow,” he notes, referring to the crash caused by teammate Marc Marquez.
What Dani Pedrosa particularly regrets in retrospect
Is there anything he regrets in retrospect? “I should have listened to my gut feeling sooner in certain moments of my career,” Pedrosa notes. “There were some situations where the head dictated the direction, which ultimately was wrong.” It is unclear which decisions he specifically means, whether it is changing teams or manufacturers that he has avoided in his MotoGP career.
“I now listen much more closely to what my gut tells me,” explains the former Honda factory rider. After his career with Honda, he took on the job of KTM test rider. Pedrosa returned as a wildcard starter at some events in 2021, 2023 and 2024 and surprisingly finished third in the Jerez sprint.
It is unclear what the future holds for Pedrosa, as the KTM bankruptcy will likely affect the work of the now 39-year-old.
There are already rumors that his services are no longer needed because KTM is scaling back development and moving forward with Pol Espargaro and Jonas Folger, who have significantly lower salaries than Pedrosa.
