Why Dani Pedrosa Is Still On The Factory Team?

Here comes another topic from a newbie



In this forum I have read a lot of comments about Pedrosa being a waste of a factory bike and I saw everybody asking why the guys at Honda are still letting him stay in the team after 5 unsuccessful years?

I was wondering if we could look to the situation from the Nakamoto and the HRC point of view. Can we say that for factory teams besides winning titles, improving the bikes setup and technology is an objective? If so How much Dani Pedrosa's riding has helped the Repsol Honda to improve the bike? Can we say He is more than a team guy than a title guy? If non of the questions that I asked is true or reasonable than there is no reason for a factory team and a sponsor to waste money a rider that can't bring titles.

In another hand I was watching the Fastest documentary and I heard about something about Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. There were people (actually all of them Italian) telling that Jorge Lorenzo won the title on the bike Rossi made for the Yamaha. If it is true can we say the same can go to Pedrosa and Stoner? Stoner arrived to Honda and did something Pedrosa couldn't do with the bike Pedrosa built till that day. Is Pedrosa really a guy that brings useful data for the team?



Again accept my apologies for my English and please inform me if there is something wrong about this topic.

For a number of reasons.



Can´t think of anyone faster than him at the moment. The only people other than Spies that have been on the podium in GP have been on the Repsol team and been outshown by Dani. Hayden beat him on his rookie year. Other than that, he has been consistently in front of his competition. Simoncelli would have been a logical substitute because you could see something special in him.



Repsol is Spanish. Dani´s face is plastered on many fill stations, and is more liked than Lorenzo. He is much more marquetable than Lorenzo here. If Repsol was Texaco, I´m sure Spies wouuld have filled his boots by now!

He is a great team rider. While we focus on riders championships, for a factory, they have at least two riders and the team and manufacturers championships are very important.



He has done a great job for HRC over the last 6 years.



The other thing to consider is the nature of Repsol's sponsorship - it is very likely they have a 'Spaniard' clause. Until Marquez is available, who else is there better than Pedrosa in Iberia

Dani is one of the top 4 riders in the world and deserves a factory seat. Repsol Honda stuck with him when they were not winning titles, they will probably stick with him now that they have a championship rider on the team as well. There can only be one champion when its all said and done, and his teammate will be odds on favorite to be that guy for the next few years at least. If he is popular with the Spanish fans and Repsol likes him, they will more than likely make room for him for at least another 2 year stint. He seems to have accepted his fate as being bridesmaid, so unless he is rocking the boat, keep him around

If Dani is not on Repsol Honda, they will be competing against him.

Pretty simple really, he's Spanish, and Repsol want a Spanish rider...pretty much already mentioned above. Plus, Puig sold his soul long ago to keep him on a HRC Honda.

It also doesn't hurt he's damn fast and given the right conditions and a lightning start, I'm pretty sure even Stoner couldn't catch him. I think that could actually happen this year, so we will see if I'm right.

.... knows to be honest

What are some of the nay-sayers suggestions to fill his spot if HRC/Repsol were to listen to ya??

povol said:

Dani is one of the top 4 riders in the world and deserves a factory seat.

Click to expand...

i know who 2 of the 4 are besides Dani, but who is the fourth?.......cause it aint the other guy in the other factory team ....

baturro said:

What are some of the nay-sayers suggestions to fill his spot if HRC/Repsol were to listen to ya??

Click to expand...

I think that it's a given....Marquez

baturro said:

What are some of the nay-sayers suggestions to fill his spot if HRC/Repsol were to listen to ya??

Click to expand...

Bradl....Marquez....Dovi....

I'm not asking about future riders. The initial questions is "still" implying a veteran rider. For those saying Dani shouldn't be there now, who would be the possible alternatives?



Dovi had his chance and showed great consistency, and nothing more. Great teammate, and honda loyal but has less of a chance to win the Championship than Dani.



Marquez won't be there for a season and a half, and even thought right now he should be a shoe-in he still needs to perform on a big bike.



Bradl in my pov is doing great so far, but should atleast be on the podium this year before being considered, and he's got the problem of Repsol waiting on Marquez showing up.

Well he gets a podium just about every race and wins a couple races each year. If you can win 3 or 4 races a year your more than likely gonna be able to keep your seat.



And typically Pedrosa gets injured when he needs points the most so theres also a side of just plain bad luck to him there. And as everyone already said there really isn't anyone to replace him right now.

povol said:

so unless he is rocking the boat, keep him around

Click to expand...

well, we know hes not driving it

JohnnyKnockdown said:

well, we know hes not driving it

Click to expand...

Not legally at least...





This thread has been inspiration for me. I figured out what im gonna do for Laguna. Im gonna get me a white captains hat and put a 26 on it, then have Dani's autograph.

Jumkie said:

Not legally at least... This thread has been inspiration for me. I figured out what im gonna do for Laguna. Im gonna get me a white captains hat and put a 26 on it, then have Dani's autograph.

Click to expand...

Do all that while dressed as Gilligan and I will somehow send you $50 Australian (worth more than your bloody US dollar now anyway)

MigsAngel said:

i know who 2 of the 4 are besides Dani, but who is the fourth?.......cause it aint the other guy in the other factory team ....

Click to expand...

I still rate Rossi as number 3. A step behind Stoner and Jorge, and a half a step ahead of Dani

No matter what, he is a really good rider. He is a robot as far as personality, and quite a few of us including myself dog the dude for being a dousche, he is one of the best in the world. He is on Repsol due to the fact the Repsol contract requires the team to field a spanish rider. What's funny is that we all give our 2 cents about who we like or dislike, but they are there doing it day in and day out. Dani is a great rider, the dude gets amazing starts and can hang up front. He just has a tough time of scrappin' for position. The one big thing coming up is Marq Marquez, who is Spanish, already rides for Repsol and is good. Now what to do about that rookie rule eh?

MigsAngel said:

Bradl....Marquez....Dovi....

Click to expand...

Bradl: Rookie - unproven. Hardly likely to be faster than Dani in the near future. They are riding what is essentially the same bike right now and Bradl isn't close to Pedrosa's times. 8/8/9 is the sum total of his MotoGP career and you would bounce the fourth most successful rider in the paddock and replace him with Bradl? Somehow I don't think you will make it as a team manager.



Marquez - you are joking, right? Zero experience in MotoGP. Look at Pedrosa's record before he came into MotoGP and tell me how it was materially different from what Marquez has shown? And Pedrosa was competing with Stoner, Lorenzo, etc... in their respective first year in Moto2/250GP, they both have the same number of wins, but Pedrosa also walked away with a championship - and the next year.



Dovi: Now I know you were joking... on equal machinery how often did he finish ahead of Pedrosa? Less than 30% of the time is the answer. In the four years he has been in MotoGP, he has one win, sixteen podiums. In the same period, Pedrosa has eleven wins, fourty-three podiums.

Ion Blaster4 said:

Well he gets a podium just about every race and wins a couple races each year. If you can win 3 or 4 races a year your more than likely gonna be able to keep your seat.



And typically Pedrosa gets injured when he needs points the most so theres also a side of just plain bad luck to him there. And as everyone already said there really isn't anyone to replace him right now.

Click to expand...

Yep. Out of 101 starts in MotoGP, he has 59 podiums and 15 wins. good natured, gets on well with team and team-mates, doesn't embarrass the factory, great test/development rider. For a team manager, he is an absolute dream.