MotoGP
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 two 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]
For 2010, Pedrosa has reverted to number 26—a number he used when he first entered MotoGP—from number 2 in 2008 and number 3 in 2009. He took this decision to please his fans who had asked him to return to the number he had always used.
[9] Pedrosa has won four races in 2010 and currently lies second in the overall standings behind
Jorge Lorenzo, who has already secured the championship.
[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.[10]
- 2009 December (MotoGP) Underwent an operation to remove a screw from his left wrist.[11]
- 2010 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) Four-fragment chip fracture of the left collarbone and a Grade 1 ankle sprain.[12]
