Метка: Dani Pedrosa

Aki Ajo, Dani Pedrosa primed to lead KTM management restructure

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Aki Ajo has emerged as the lead candidate to become KTM team boss for the 2025 MotoGP world championship season, while development rider Dani Pedrosa is also set to play a part in the manufacturer’s management reshuffle.

With Francesco Guidotti’s exit from the Austrian team at the end of the season having been all-but confirmed ahead of this weekend’s Indonesian Grand Prix, paddock rumours in Mandalika have gone on to identify Ajo as his likely successor.

The Finn has carved a successful reputation in the grand prix paddock as founder and manager of his eponymous Ajo Motorsport team, which he has steered to 10 riders’ titles across Moto2 and Moto3/125GP since 2008.

Having established a close relationship with KTM in recent years by nurturing the manufacturer’s thriving young rider programme with placements in both his Moto2 and Moto3 teams, Ajo is viewed as a logical choice to assume the position of MotoGP lead.

Ajo’s arrival will mark the end of Guidotti’s three-year term as KTM team manager. The Italian joined the marque from Pramac Racing ahead of the 2022 MotoGP season but amid stalling fortunes and no victories in two years, Guidotti — whose contract was set to run until the end of 2025 — will instead depart prematurely.

Dani Pedrosa, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Dani Pedrosa, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Dani Pedrosa teases new dual-role at KTM

In addition to Ajo, highly-rated development lead rider Pedrosa is also expected to feature prominently in KTM’s reorganisation.

The 31-time MotoGP race winner joined the manufacturer as development and test rider upon retiring from racing at the end of the 2018 season and has been widely credited as the pivotal factor in KTM’s upturn in form during the ensuing years.

While it’s a role Pedrosa is reluctant to give up entirely, with his available track time having been limited by KTM’s loss of testing concessions, it has subsequently opened the door for him to take up an executive position behind-the-scenes.

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Currently dividing his time between his KTM duties and working as a commentator and pundit for DAZN’s MotoGP coverage, the former Honda racer teased to the broadcaster that an announcement was imminent, saying: “Everything is decided but, logically, I cannot reveal any information before Pit [Beirer] does so.»

While it remains unclear what title Pedrosa would assume, it is understood his desire to continue in a development role also led to him turning down an offer from KTM to become outright team manager, adding: “What I like most is riding the bike…”



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Ex-Honda star Pedrosa reveals chronic fatigue issue in final years in MotoGP

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Dani Pedrosa has admitted to having suffered from chronic fatigue in the final three seasons of his MotoGP career with Honda.

The 31-time grand prix winner has revealed that he was diagnosed with the same issue that compromised the career of his former team-mate Casey Stoner, who retired from MotoGP after 2012 at the age of just 27.

The Spaniard stated that it took another three years for him to fully recover from the effects of the ailment and return to the track again.

In an interview with Motorsport.com’s Spanish edition, Pedrosa shed new light on his time in MotoGP and how his physical fitness contributed to his decision to hang up his helmet in 2018.

“Like Stoner, I also had chronic fatigue in my last years in MotoGP,” he acknowledged. “The last two or three years of my career I was dealing with it.

“I stretched it out until I realised that I couldn’t get out of there and that I needed to stop racing. It took about three years to get back on track.”

Pedrosa is widely regarded as the greatest rider not to win a championship in the premier class. Hired by Honda in 2006 to spearhead its MotoGP programme, Pedrosa finished runner-up thrice in a glittering career that yielded 112 podiums and 31 poles in addition to his 31 race victories, but came short of winning the ultimate prize.

Dani Pedrosa, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Dani Pedrosa, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Throughout his 13 seasons in MotoGP as a full-time rider, Pedrosa was plagued by injuries that prevented him from mounting a sustained title challenge. The Spaniard ended up missing a number of races due to crashes, while he also spent a fair amount of time not being fully fit on the bike.

Now a test rider at KTM, Pedrosa again expressed his frustration at the consequences of these injuries on his time in MotoGP.

“We calculated the total time I was out of action due to injuries, and all the races I couldn’t participate in because of it, and we concluded that I would have missed about 17 or 18 Grand Prix, a whole season,’ he said.

“When I retired I had serious problems with my collarbone, it was disintegrated.Part of it was very badly damaged; the bone wouldn’t heal on its own.

“It wouldn’t solidify and couldn’t withstand all the forces I put on it. It was a very long process, and thanks to some stem cell doctors I was able to solve it.”

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Pedrosa says ‘unexpected’ MotoGP return pushed by «interesting» testing data

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The retired 31-time MotoGP race winner stepped away from full-time racing at the end of 2018 but has made sporadic wildcard outings since joining KTM as a test rider.

Pedrosa raced at the Spanish GP and San Marino GP in 2023, finishing fourth in the latter and seventh in the former in front of a rapturous home crowd.

KTM noted at the start of the season that everything was in place for Pedrosa to wildcard at Jerez again but was waiting for the rider’s green light.

Speaking on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Spanish GP, Pedrosa says it wasn’t something he was expecting to do but «things got a little bit interesting in testing» and prompted a change of plan.

«I’m here at this great GP and looking forward to starting tomorrow,» the three-time MotoGP championship runner-up said.

«I didn’t expect, honestly, to do this one again after last year. But things got a little bit interesting in the testing, so that’s why we chose to do it once more.»

Asked if the «interesting» element was his speed, Pedrosa replied: «Well, the speed is hard to judge when you race alone in testing.

«But we have some items to try, and they are items that are important to try in a more, let’s say, stressful way in order to see what can come out and if we can deal OK with it, because normally in the tests you have all day long to set up things and to modify the bike.

Dani Pedrosa, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Dani Pedrosa, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«So, it’s also with this new format a lot more stressful as we saw last year. So, yes, this is one of the reasons.»

KTM sits second in the manufacturers’ table after three rounds, courtesy of podiums for Brad Binder in Qatar and Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta in Portugal and America.

Pedrosa says it’s hard to know if the updates he is trying will take KTM a step forward, especially as «records are being destroyed» in terms of lap times in 2024 and it’s difficult to compare testing data against this.

«It’s difficult to say from this perspective because when you are alone things are a bit different,» he added when asked if KTM’s updates will offer a clear improvement.

«So, that’s why we want to measure a little bit the feeling this weekend and see how the bike is performing because this year we can see clearly in the first three races the lap times and the race pace is a lot quicker than last year.

«So, we also have to judge that and adapt that to this year because suddenly everybody is almost half a second or more faster than last year.

«Records are being destroyed pretty much everywhere, even if the track conditions were not super perfect, like in Portugal.

«And the race total time is much faster. So, yes, we have some things we would like to try but we have to put this [increase in speeds] into the equation to see if it’s matching.»

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