Dani Pedrosa says former MotoGP teammate Marc Marquez reminds him of one wild animal

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Dani Pedrosa was inducted into the MotoGP ‘Hall of Fame’ ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix last weekend. He is the only rider on the list without a premier-class title.

Pedrosa is one of 17 founding ‘Hall of Fame’ members, and few would dispute his inclusion, even if he never achieved his ultimate goal. He ranks joint-seventh all-time for race wins (31) and fourth for podiums (113).

Were it not for Marc Marquez, Pedrosa may well have won at least one championship. He’d finished as the runner-up in 2012 just before the Ant of Cervera arrived.

Both are members of the ‘Fantastic Five’ of the MotoGP era, along with Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo. In a recent interview with Moto IT, Pedrosa was asked which attribute he’d take from each of the riders.

Dani Pedrosa wishes he’d been a ‘chameleon’ like Marc Marquez

Pedrosa was in awe of Rossi’s ‘ease with people’, which helped him to handle media pressure. He also admired Lorenzo’s reputation.

Stoner is regarded as the master of low-grip circuits, often blitzing the field right at the beginning of a weekend. Pedrosa would love to have that ‘crazy’ ability.

As for Marquez, Pedrosa likened him to a ‘chameleon’ given his incredible versatility. This season, he’s the only rider who’s maximised Ducati’s GP25, with Francesco Bagnaia floundering and Fabio di Giannantonio lacking consistency.

“From Valentino, I’d take his charisma, his ease with people, with making teams,” he said. “I couldn’t handle the media pressure that well, but he was a great manager of that.

“From Lorenzo, I would say his determination. He was a very determined rider and this gave him many, many great successes.

“From Stoner, I would say his great talent for riding the bike in any way, in any situation. It was incredible to see him ride when the track was cold, when it wasn’t clean or it was raining. He made a crazy difference there.

“And then Marc, he’s a very versatile person, capable of adapting to everything in a short time. He was a chameleon, and he can handle a situation one way or another, learning on the fly. This gave him a lot of success.”

Dani Pedrosa explains how being small gave him an edge on MotoGP rivals

Pedrosa had the hands of a ’12-year-old’, according to one engineer, and his small stature was a lasting limitation in the premier class. He won at 125cc and 250cc level but couldn’t tame the ferocious MotoGP machines as effectively.

In his own words, he couldn’t use a ‘very hard’ riding style, and that meant he had to hone his ‘technical’ skills instead. He regards this as his best attribute.

“Riding a motorbike technically,” he said. “I couldn’t ride a motorbike very hard, so I rode it a bit like that.”

Pedrosa is grateful that he competed with Marquez and the aforementioned legends. He wouldn’t be drawn on whether he could have lifted the championship trophy had he been racing during his compatriot’s injury lay-off at the start of the decade.