Dani Pedrosa says he “suffered a bit” battling towards Valentino Rossi in MotoGP because of the Italian’s potential to “beat you” off of the race observe.
Throughout the 2000s, Valentino Rossi was the reference rider within the MotoGP World Championship, amassing seven world titles between 2001 and 2009.
Within the late 2000s, he confronted stiff opposition kind the likes of Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo, although was nonetheless capable of beat all of them head-to-head in title battles.
Pedrosa, who raced in MotoGP with Honda between 2006 and 2018 earlier than retiring, says he “wasn’t as calm” overtaking Rossi as he was with others.
He additionally notes that Rossi was capable of get in his head off-track, with the MotoGP legend famed for his potential to make use of the media to his benefit towards his rivals.
“Valentino Rossi has accomplished a unprecedented factor for our sport,” Pedrosa, now a KTM take a look at rider, stated on Andrea Migno’s podcast.
“Once I was with him on the observe, particularly within the early years, and I needed to overtake him, I wasn’t as calm as with the others.
“Let’s simply say he had an aura that not many others had.
“Rossi might beat you on the observe, however typically he did not must do it there, he might beat you off it.
“Due to my character, I suffered a bit with that.”
Pedrosa’s largest rivalry in MotoGP got here towards Jorge Lorenzo, with the bitterness between the pair to such a level that the king of Spain needed to power them to shake arms after a troublesome battle on the Spanish Grand Prix in 2008.
On his time towards the three-time MotoGP champion, 31-time race winner Pedrosa stated: “With Jorge it was a unique story, as a result of our rivalry went again years.
“He had that large high quality in cornering, and in addition in braking.
“And over time he improved rather a lot. He struggled with the beginning, and he targeted on enhancing it.
“Then, on going higher on the primary lap of races; then, on driving within the rain.”
