- 2018-07-13
-
SPORTS
-
-
Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa Announces Retirement from MotoGP
Honda MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa has announced he will retire from grand prix motorcycle racing at the end of 2018.
Last month, Repsol Honda announced Jorge Lorenzo would join in the team next year instead of Dani Pedrosa.
After the announcement, it was rumored that he would move to Yamaha. He had been linked with the new SIC Petronas Yamaha project.
MotoGP fans watched Dani Pedrosa what to decide. But, he decided to retire from MotoGP at the end of the season.
Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta revealed that Dani Pedrosa will be made an official MotoGP Legend during his final grand prix at Valencia in November.
Dani Pedrosa won the 125 Championship in 2003, the 250 title in 2004 and 2005, as well as, he took 31 wins in the premier class.
He is one of the most successful riders of all time in the premier class.- Dani Pedrosa said in a statement;
"Next year I will not compete in the championship. I will finish my career in MotoGP this season. This is a decision I've been thinking about for a long time and it's a very hard decision because this is the sport I love.
But despite having good opportunities to keep racing, I feel like I don’t live racing with such an intensity as before and I now have different priorities in my life.
I would like to express how fortunate I feel to have had this experience and these opportunities in my life, it’s been an amazing life to have been racing for such an important team and in front of all the fans. I achieved way more than I expected and I’m very, very proud of what I’ve done in the sport. I’ve fulfilled my dream of becoming a racer and that’s something that I didn’t expect when I was a kid watching TV, watching riders in the World Championship.
I would like to take this time to say thanks to Dorna and to Honda for giving me this opportunity way back in 1999, and to all my sponsors who’ve been with me throughout my career.
I would like also to say thanks to my family, and to all the fans who supported me throughout my career and through the thick and thin, who helped me sending so many messages to overcome difficult things in the past." 
- source : MotoGP
