Pedrosa to stay with Honda until 2012
Spain’s great motorcycle talent Dani Pedrosa is to continue his legacy with the Repsol Honda MotoGP team by extending his contract until 2012, BBC Sport reports.
The deal has been struck at an advantageous time for Honda, with Pedrosa in fine race-winning form. The 24-year-old prodigy is currently second in the championship standings with 208 points, 63 points
behind Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo. He is presently the only competitor who stands a chance of catching up to the 23-year-old compatriot and contending this season's title.
Pedrosa has enjoyed a long history with Honda, working with the team exclusively since 2001. Having achieved an astounding 35 wins, 85 podium finishes, 35 pole positions, and the 125cc and 250cc championship
titles, Pedrosa is more than assured that he is in the right place.
“This has been the team of my dreams since I was a kid and that's still the same feeling I have now,” expressed Pedrosa. “We've had a long and successful relationship already and believe we can have even
more success in the future.”
Echoing his sentiments, Honda Racing president Tetsuo Suzuki praised, “Dani is clearly at the peak of his powers. We believe his relationship with the machine and the team will continue to grow and that
he will mount an extremely strong challenge for the MotoGP world title over the next two seasons."
This follows Honda’s spring signing of former world champion Casey Stoner, who will join Pedrosa after his move from Ducati. Stoner has been with Ducati since 2007 when he became the world champion, yet
dissension has been brewing since the team apparently approached Valentino Rossi for a 2010 deal due to Stoner falling ill in 2009.
Honda welcomes back the racer, who made his debut with the team in 2005 for the 250 cc (now Moto2) season, before leaving them for Aprilia in 2006.
Yet with Pedrosa and Stoner forming a formidable duo, little is being said in regards to Pedrosa’s current team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who is third in the championship with 139 points.