Dani Pedrosa ‘doubted’ whether he could ‘dominate MotoGP bike’

With 31 wins and 112 podiums to his name in the MotoGP class, it’s fair to say Dani Pedrosa had a stunning premier class career, even though the KTM test rider once doubted whether he could make the transition from 250cc machines.

Robert Jones

15 Dec 2022

Pedrosa never won a MotoGP world championship but it considered to be one of the best riders never to do so, if not the outright best.

The former Repsol Honda rider also competed in an era that included Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo, three of the greatest riders MotoGP has ever seen.

Pedrosa, who has been with KTM as a test rider since 2019, suffered many injuries throughout his career which also cost him the chance of becoming a MotoGP world champion.

But despite never winning the biggest prize, Pedrosa felt he got the most potential out of himself and is ‘at peace’ with his career.

Speaking to Motorbike Magazine, Pedrosa said: "In general, I am at peace, because I have always pushed myself to the maximum, and when there was something I worked on it. When there was something that wasn't working, I fought it.

"I did things to work mentally, I did things to work physically, I did things to work technically... I always faced my problems, I didn't try to avoid them, I went straight ahead.

"I worked on the set-up in the race, because at the beginning in MotoGP I was very fast at the beginning of the race but not at the end, but then I was fast at the end... I worked on everything."

Before arriving in MotoGP Pedrosa was considered to be one of the best talents coming through the ranks.

A championship win in the 125cc category was backed up by winning the 250cc championship in consecutive years, including the 2005 season when he got the better of Casey Stoner, Andrea Dovizioso and Lorenzo.

But when the time for a move to MotoGP came about, Pedrosa, along with many others, had doubts about how well he would fare due to his lack of height and weight.

"If I'm honest, when I won the 125cc World Championship and went to 250cc, then I already had doubts, because the bike was bigger and heavier, and I was very small," added Pedrosa.

"I don't know if you remember, but there were already many doubts about me, because my riding style was too smooth and too fine, and that those bikes needed more force.

"I also remember having doubts, because maybe I was too small, but I got on it and everything went smoothly, and I won two titles. But despite the fact that I adapted well to 250cc, I had already tried MotoGP at the end of 2004 and that was another dimension, it was a huge thing.

Dani Pedrosa (ESP), Repsol Honda Team, Honda RC212V, 26, 2007 MotoGP World

"Not only in terms of power, but also in size: I barely reached the handlebars, I fell off the hook and my feet came off the footrests. I didn't get to the brake.

"When I switched to MotoGP, there I doubted more if I could dominate the bike. Not to go fast, but above all to control the bike, to do with it what I wanted at all times.

"Being able to do whatever you want with the bike, keeping it low in your control. That was what cost me the most in MotoGP, that I didn't always have control of the bike.

"That affects confidence a bit, because you know that when there are certain conditions or situations, you go behind the bike, it can beat you."