Dani was an absolute class act, and still is. I thought his only 'weakness' was that he couldn't get his character across well, but in fact his weakness was really that he was made of glass. Everyone thought his size was the reason for so many injuries but the crashes Marquez has walked away from prove that not to be the case, also, Taz Mackenzie is similar size, cadwell park anyone? Dani really needed to get off the Honda and onto a yamaha, had he have done that in 2008 ish, I think he would have been a world champion. He was just as clinical as Lorenzo but I think he was happy when he needed to ride loose also.
Dani should have been a champion in the premier class no doubt, size, weight, his fragility, bad luck all went against him. You have to remember for many years he was one of the aliens and there were 3 other riders at their very peak. It's good to see KTM have faith to offer him wildcards, I guess it helps them as they have lost their concessions also.
Yep the repsol/honda "thing" i referred to earlier. Did him more damage than good when it came to winning titles (not ££ wise obviously).
FIRST WORDS: Pedrosa on Jerez wildcard and MotoGP™ Sprint We'll see the MotoGP™ Legend back in racing action for the first time in 18 months at the Spanish Grand Prix in May MotoGP™ Legend and KTM Test Rider Dani Pedrosa is set to make his return to premier class action for the first time in 18 months at April's Spanish Grand Prix. The three-time World Champion will make his second wildcard appearance in the orange of KTM, after coming out of retirement at the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix, and will tackle the famous Spanish circuit for the first time since Turn 6 was renamed 'Pedrosa Curve'. Speaking on social media, The Little Samurai explained that a key reason behind the outing is the introduction of MotoGP™ Sprint this season. The new event will get underway at 15:00 local time on Saturday at all 21 Grands Prix, making it the biggest shake-up to MotoGP™ in recent memory. The Spaniard will be aiming to add a Sprint success to his three premier class victories around the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto.
Rossi will be coming back for a sprint race next, closely followed by Casey and then Mick doohan. What a time to be alive.
I've seen and read interviews with him and he's actually a really nice bloke, just a little shy. I wasn't his greatest fan when he was racing after he took out Hayden to spoil his championship chances. However, I have grown to like him more since he left HRC to become a KTM MotoGP test rider. I'm an FQ20 and an EB23 fan His problem late on in his career whilst he was an HRC rider was his tiny 48kg frame after they changed tyre manufacturer. He couldn't move his light weight around enough on the bike to help squidge the front tyre into the ground under braking to get heat into the front tyre to help make the turns, unlike the way MM93 rides. Danny has really helped KTM leaps and bounds with their development of the bike and is much loved by the factory for his hard work and technical input on their testing program when they had testing concessions. There was a pit side interview with Pit Beirer who leaned over and pulled at Danny's arm who was standing off-camera and hailed his work during the interview. Danny played down this accolade, but you could see that the compliment from Pit was genuine and Pit takes no prisoners when it comes to riders.
