The Spanish motorcycle racer Dani Pedrosa drove 296 races in the motorcycle world championship in his career, more than 200 of them in the MotoGP class. But he learned a lot from Casey Stoner of all people.
Casey Stoner was a major competitor to Dani Pedrosa for many years. Like his Spanish competitor, the Australian raced in the 125cc class of the World Championship from 2001. While Pedrosa celebrated his first world title in 2003 and followed suit in the 250 class in 2004 and 2005, Stoner’s great successes only came when he entered the MotoGP class.
Both pilots made their premier class debuts at the 2006 Spanish GP in Jerez. The Spaniard joined the Repsol Honda factory team right away and became the best rookie straight away. With two wins and six more podium finishes, the three-time world champion ended up fifth overall. Stoner finished eighth in the LCR Honda team in the world championship – and switched to the Ducati factory team in 2007.
The Australian stayed there for four years, he won the world championship title in his very first season on the Desmosedici. Pedrosa won many races during this period, but he never went beyond the runner-up title.
In 2011, Stoner joined the Repsol Honda team. He became teammates with the 1.60m tall Spaniard before winning his second MotoGP title. In 2012 he announced his resignation. Pedrosa was a regular rider for HRC in MotoGP until 2018. “I have raced with Casey since I was 15 years old in the Spanish Championship. Almost always in different teams,” Dani Pedrosa told marca.com in an interview.
“Until he came to Honda, I didn’t know how he did those crazy things on the bike that you see on TV. I did not understand that”, admitted today’s KTM test rider. “When he was on a team with me, I found out. He opened my eyes. And I’ve learned a lot.”
Pedrosa concluded: “With Jorge Lorenzo, I never found out how he achieved these successes because he was never in a team with me.”