Cycle News

VOL. 55 ISSUE 28 JULY 17, 2018 P29 and you must consider these; and it is better to take these decisions with more time." Pedrosa was followed by Dor- na CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, who echoed the thoughts of many when he praised "especially his behavior, which has been an example to everybody." For that reason, Dorna had decided to nominate him to the MotoGP Hall of Fame, where he would be inducted at the final round at Valencia. From Sabadell, less than 15 miles from the circuit of Barce- lona-Catalunya at Montmelo, Pedrosa started riding motor- cycles at six, and was soon racing mini bikes. His big break came in 2002, after excelling in a Movistar-backed series to promote young talent. Along with former Moto2 Champion Toni Elias and the ultimately less successful Joan Olive, he was brought into GPs under the wing of current HRC team manager Alberto Puig. Pedrosa started winning races in his second 125 season, and in 2003 scored a massive title win over Alex de Angelis, before moving to 250s and immediate consecutive championships in 2004 and again in 2005, when he defeated Casey Stoner. The next year he moved to MotoGP, straight into Honda's factory team, and the 250 title went to Jorge Lorenzo, the rider who has now effectively ousted him from Honda. Pedrosa took his first senior- class victory in China in his first season, and has been a race winner every year since, amass- ing a total so far of 31 MotoGP victories. But misfortune, stron- ger teammates, and most par- ticularly a propensity for injury have thwarted his championship hopes. He has been three times second, and three times third overall, and only twice finished outside the top four. Injury robbed him of a distant chance in 2010 (a mechanic's error jammed his throttle open at Motegi with five races to go). In 2011, he was knocked off and injured early on at Le Mans, hav- ing won in Portugal two weeks before, by a headlong Marco Simoncelli, who crashed fatally later that year. His best chance was in 2012. He was just 18 points adrift of champion Lorenzo. In the first 12 races, he took three wins and finished off the podium just once. Then he was again an innocent victim, when Hec- tor Barbera knocked him down at Misano. Even second place there would have earned him that ever-elusive title. The toll of seemingly regular injuries, unlike his rubber-ball teammate Marc Marquez, may be a function of his small size— just 5'2" tall, and weighing a featherlight 112 pounds. He has also all too frequently had the bad luck to be knocked down by other riders through no fault of his own, and injured almost every time. This year alone he was sent flying by Johann Zarco in Argen- tina, suffering wrist fractures al- though making a heroic return to Texas two weeks later, and then by both factory Ducatis at Jerez, where he sustained troublesome shoulder injuries. Ironically, left to his own devices, Pedrosa is regarded as one of the safest riders, earning the respect of his peers for this facet. Pedrosa is also admired by the press and other paddock folk, largely because of his quiet nature, gentle sense of humor, and general resistance to falling into the trap of being a superstar. He can be relied on for a matter-of-fact answer to questions; and notably played the role of sporting gentleman in the 2016 dispute between Rossi and Marquez, after the former had knocked the latter flying at Sepang, and when Lorenzo joined the argument with all fists flying. Pedrosa lost his Honda seat when Lorenzo offered his servic- es after the French GP in May, and was expected to announce his retirement two races later. The chance to switch to Yamaha intervened, but it is understood that the package—financial and technical—was not enough to persuade him to turn his back on Honda, thus losing the oppor- tunity for a future role with the company. Michael Scott

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