The MotoGP website is currently counting down to a live press conference that will feature Dani Pedrosa. The time on the clock is T-minus 15 hours, and at T-minus 15 hours plus one minute, the MotoGP paddock expects the 32-year-old to announce his retirement from motorcycle racing.
The rumors leading up to the German GP have gone both ways for Pedrosa, with some suggesting that the Spaniard would retire this season, while others thought he would take a ride on the newly formed Petronas Yamaha team.
We expected an announcement, one way or another, from Pedrosa first at the Catalan GP, then at the Dutch TT, but now we know that Germany will be the spot – a track that Pedrosa has carved out as one of his places of two-wheeled dominance.
To that end, Roadracing World has published that their sources have revealed to them that Pedrosa’s plan is to end his career at the end of the 2018 season, rather than try his hand on the satellite Yamaha in 2019.
The article in RRW echoes rumors that have been swirling in the MotoGP paddock, though they are the first publication to go out on a limb and make the speculation concrete news. The report is believable though, especially if you examine Pedrosa’s options in the MotoGP paddock.
While the Catalan rider was effectively pushed out of the Repsol Honda team by his previous manager Alberto Puig, Pedrosa’s career is strongly linked to Honda and HRC.
Looking at his post-racing options, Dani Pedrosa is a Honda brand ambassador in the making, which is a job title that could be put in jeopardy if his career ends with Yamaha; or even worse, if it ends on a sour note with HRC.
Also, a season or two on a second-tier machine is likely not the way the Pedrosa wants to end his career, and the combination is certainly not going to get him any closer to that elusive MotoGP World Championship title that he has so fiercely fought for all these years.
Weighing those options, it seems logical to expect Dani Pedrosa to hang up his racing leathers at the end of this year.
The pieces are starting to fall into place that we will hear one of MotoGP’s original “aliens” retire from the sport. We certainly believe that to be the case as well.
Source: Roadracing World; Photos: © 2018 Jensen Beeler / Asphalt & Rubber – All Rights Reserved
