MotoGP | Sachsenring GP: Pedrosa retires, “A new chapter in my life begins”

MotoGP GP Germany Dani Pedrosa – After much waiting, on Thursday of the Sachsenring Grand Prix, ninth stage of the 2018 MotoGP, Dani Pedrosa revealed what his plans for the future will be.

After 18 years on a Honda (also considering the light classes) the Spanish rider has decided to retire. The very painful decision came after careful analysis over the last few weeks, when it seemed he could land in the newly created SIC-Petronas Yamaha team. However, the agreement fell through.

After 18 years in the MotoGP world championship and three world titles Dani Pedrosa has decided to hang up his helmet after a career full of successes and a lot of bad luck. The rider from Sabadell is one of the most talented and successful riders, ten races from the end of his last season in MotoGP, he has collected 54 career victories (in the three categories), tied with Mick Doohan. But what really marked the Spaniard's entire career were the injuries.

Some argue that the causes of the many injuries are to be attributed to his small physique, he is 1,59 m tall, to which a lot of bad luck certainly adds. In his thirteen seasons in MotoGP, the Spaniard has missed around fourteen races due to injuries, just under an entire season. To these, we should add the Grand Prix contested with various physical ailments, which prevented him from collecting the points he would have deserved.

These are the words of Dani Pedrosa: “I thank everyone for being here. I announce that I won't be racing next year. I will end my career with this season. It was a difficult decision because this is the sport I love. Not having good opportunities to continue racing wouldn't have made sense. Now I will have other opportunities in my life. It's been an incredible life. Racing for such an important team for all these years. I have achieved more than I expected and I am proud of what I have done. My dream was to become a pilot, and that's what I did. I didn't expect it when I was little, but I succeeded. I thank Dorna, Movistar and Repsol for believing in me over these years. I also thank my family and my fans for supporting me and helping me through these years and difficult times. Now a new chapter begins and I'm happy. I have so many memorable moments, but I especially remember when I started running when I did my first race. From then on it was incredible. It's a decision that comes from afar, the opportunity they offered me was good but I had already decided and I had to be honest with myself. As I said in Barcelona, ​​I had already made the decision, but there were opportunities and I preferred to take time before deciding.”

Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna, also spoke during the conference: “Dani is an example for everyone and I have requested that he be added to the MotoGP Legends at the end of this year. He will enter the register at the last race of the season in Valencia. It was a fair and honest decision, we talked to try to convince him to continue, but he always told us that he had already made a decision. And this is not something everyone does.”