Team-BHP - Dani Pedrosa announces retirement from MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa announces retirement from MotoGP.

Quote:

"I will finish my MotoGP career this season and not race next year. It's been a hard decision because this is the sport I love.

"I would like to express how fortunate I feel to have had this opportunity. It's been an amazing life to be racing for such an important team and in front of all the fans.

"So I can say I achieved way more than I expected and I'm very proud of everything I've done in the sport. I fulfilled my dream of becoming a racer and this is something I didn't expect as a kid watching the riders on TV.

"Thanks to everybody who has helped me and now it's time to start a new chapter."

Dani will also be included as an official MotoGP legend during his last race in Valencia this year.

The best rider to have never won the MotoGP World Championship. I just hope he is able to win a race this year to continue his record of 13 years of winning at least one race in a season.

Happy to hear that he is open to some other role in the paddock. Just wondering what impact his departure will have on the development of the Honda bike,

Source:

https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/90...ces-retirement

End of an era! Though Spanish, I would not be wrong in calling him a pint sized Japanese ninja fighter.

He defies physics in many ways on the modern day motogp machine. May be a reason why many of his crashes looked spectacular. But, he has braved it all.

Valentino Rossi: Dani Pedrosa deserved at least one MotoGP title

I would say he deserved a lot more race wins and spotlight too. Hope he does in the remainder of this season.

He was my favorite rider by far, a true gentleman on and off the track. For a change I agree with Rossi that he deserved atleast 1 MotoGP title. 2012 was his best chance and he came mighty close. I can only wonder how he has continued till now with the number of injuries he has endured. Little Samurai indeed!
I would have loved to see him on the Yamaha in 2019, but it won't happen. Thanks for the memories Dani!

He will be made a MotoGP legend at the last race in Valencia, a truly deserving accolade for this great rider.

Dani Pedrosa has been the understated champion in this lot. He is super consistent, goes about his business irrespective of the track or conditions and has perfectly played the role of number two rider for Repsol Honda team for 12 years. This season, he even rode bike without latest aero just because of crash in free practice. If not for the bad luck of riders crashing into him or horrible crashes leaving him with injuries, things would have been very different.

It is sad that factory teams like Suzuki, Aprilia and KTM are interested in picking up rookies from Moto2 but don't want to tap into the experience of the likes of Pedrosa. These factory teams need to improve their bikes and a Moto2 champion is not going to give those inputs in his rookie year.

I am happy Pedrosa is walking away holding his head high. He has respect from everyone and will be remembered for quietly performing away from limelight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksameer1234 (Post 4429342)

Yep, he is retiring on his own terms rather than being forced to.
Even if KTM or Aprillia were to show interest not sure Dani would be inclined to ride one. Yamaha were clearly courting him for the 2019 ride, so much so that even Rossi acknowledged having Dani on the Yamaha would be great in terms of inputs to make the bike better.

The past 3 races were difficult to watch as a Dani fan, this decision was clearly weighing him down and it showed in the results. Now with this load off his shoulders I am hopeful that his rather outstanding trend of winning races every year continues. It would be fitting to see him bow out on a high with a win at Valencia or Sepang.