By Giovanni Zamagni Photos courtesy: 2snap Copyright reserved

Premise: I am a great admirer of Dani Pedrosa. I like how he rides, I like his ability to adapt to bike that for him are big and very heavy, I admire his willpower to return after every injury and surgery, I appreciate that he is always himself, in the paddock and outside of it. For all this, I think Dani is a positive example, especially for all children, and for this I wanted to interview him before what will be his last race, the Valencia GP on November 18th.

I start with a question my six-year-old son Leonardo asked me: “Dad, with how small he is, how is Pedrosa able to ride a MotoGP bike?” I told him it’s because you have a lot of talent, although I think that’s not the only reason…

“I don’t know, I always wanted to be a rider and to ride in MotoGP was more a dream than a real challenge, because I always knew that I was not a suitable rider for such large bikes. I’ve also been able to do great races, although with a little difficulty. Even in an historic moment like now with many strong competitors I’ve always tried to follow my path, take advantage of my strengths, which allow me to ride this bike in a way that has led me so many times to positive results, yes, but in some situations I have suffered a lot.”

“If you do it right, they value you in everything; If you don’t do it right, you are criticized immediately, the same rider. These things have been difficult for me to handle”.

What are the good and negative aspects of being a rider? Let’s start with the positives.

“Positive points: everything! Being a racer is fantastic. It is not so good when you are under the pressure of being on an official team, when the press is watching you and also your followers. From the outside it’s very easy to point fingers and criticize, and for me this has been difficult to manage. As a rider you only have one valid answer: turn the throttle.

Another aspect that is a bit negative is how you look, your credibility: if you do it right, they value you in everything; If you don’t do it right, you are criticized immediately, the same rider. These things have been difficult for me to handle. You don’t always have the key to do immediately what you want: sometimes it takes a little time and, from the outside, it seems a too long period.

Sport in general is like this: always staying at the highest level is very difficult, but for me it is even harder to be on display, because you are under pressure, you are judged. Nobody forgives you for anything, even if you want to be a racer exclusively for the desire to be one, not to show something to others.

In those moments things happen inside you that make you learn: it’s clear that it would be great to have esteem and confidence of everyone, but sport is always a personal challenge. Sometimes you have to be able to isolate yourself and these are the harder and less nice moments; but they cause you to grow. As far as I’m concerned, the most negative aspect of being a racer is when you hurt yourself: I’ve suffered a lot because of this.”

My friend Loris Reggiani [a former GP rider] told me once that what he missed the most when he stopped racing was the adrenaline generated by the challenge of riding a GP motorcycle, the speed: are you afraid of losing this?

“I’m sure Reggiani is right, I don’t think it’s possible to find anything else that can make you feel the same way, because we do something extraordinary and we do it very well. You can try to do something else, but you’ll never be a specialist like you are being a MotoGP rider. Whatever you try you will do it at a different level. When you have passion for something and at the same time you can do it very well, it generates feelings that you cannot replicate with anything else. But at the moment I don’t know how it will be in my case, it is difficult to anticipate.”

“It would be great to have esteem and confidence of everyone, but sport is always a personal challenge”.

How are you experiencing these last races from an emotional point of view: good, bad, or better than expected?

“It’s been a little harder than expected. It is not all automatic; it is not that you announce your withdrawal and everything is set. Everything takes time, certain emotions need time to change.”

But do you find it hard coming to the races or is it still a pleasure even in this farewell period?

“It’s not difficult, but the feeling is a little different, we’ll see how it ends, it also affects you how you’re riding, of course.”

You’ll leave as having been a Honda rider from the first to the last race: do you regret not having tried another bike?

“I’ve always been where I wanted to be, but of course you’re always a little curious to know what it would be like on another team, but I don’t regret anything.”

“Whatever you try after having been a MotoGP top rider you will do it at a different level. I don’t think it’s possible to find anything else that can make you feel the same way”.

Is your relationship with the press difficult?

“Sometimes, yes. I don’t like it when the journalists take something for granted. For example, ‘Last year you won here, so you’ll win again this year,’ or the opposite, ‘You had a bad time last year, so you will again this year.’ Or, ‘After the last race, can you say your problems are over?’ It doesn’t work that way. I understand that you need to make a headline, but MotoGP is not an exact science, it doesn’t work like that.”

Do you think that people have an accurate opinion of you?

“Not completely, but I’m glad that my fans have understood that I’ve always raced correctly, I’ve always done things the way I think they should be done, without making mistakes with others to gain a position or even a tenth of a second. Regarding sympathy or otherwise they may have for me, I think that Pedrosa is not completely known, this is because I have not completely opened up, but this is part of my character.”