MotoGP News
Date: 18/September/2011
Dani Pedrosa may not be the most personable character in MotoGP, but it's hard not to feel sorry for the Spaniard.
A loyal Honda rider since his 2001 debut in the 125cc class, Pedrosa was HRC's most successful MotoGP rider from 2007-2010, when he twice finished title runner-up.
But just as the RC212V was looking like the bike to beat, towards the end of last season, in walked Casey Stoner for 2011.
The Australian has gone on to win eight of the 14 races this year, and has one hand on his second MotoGP title. Meanwhile Pedrosa's championship chances broke with his collarbone after a controversial accident at round four (Le Mans).
Some in the paddock believe Stoner's success proves Pedrosa should have achieved more with the Honda in previous years. However Stoner insists Pedrosa instead deserves credit for making the RC212V the machine it is today.
The Honda has won ten races this season, with the other four wins taken by Yamaha.
"I respect Dani a lot as a racer and the work that he has done with this bike is evident," Stoner said. "We don’t ride the same bike and there are some differences, but I only arrived here at the end of last year and have only changed a few small things with the settings.
"The Honda has been improving these past few years and, with Dani being the strongest rider, I'm sure most of the development was coming from him. It's a big credit to Dani that the bike is what it is today."
But Stoner then warned about the dangers of creating a bike to suit the needs of just one person.
"I don't think any bike should be developed around one rider," Stoner said. "You can't fill every gap that way. You need input from other riders. That's also why I really wanted Dani's opinion on next year's 1000cc bike."
Those words could be taken as both an explanation of why the RCV was inconsistent in previous seasons - too much concentration on Pedrosa - and a warning to Stoner's former team Ducati, currently struggling to make MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi competitive.
Barring disaster, Stoner is on target to claim Honda's first MotoGP title since Nicky Hayden in 2006.
Stoner holds a 44 point advantage over Yamaha's reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo, with four rounds and 100 points remaining. Lorenzo offered this insight into Honda's current supremacy:
"The Honda was already extremely fast at the end of last year," he began. "I would say they improved by one step at the end of last year, and then another step for this year.
"We, as Yamaha, have won the last three titles in a row so it was logical that we didn’t take so many risks with this year's bike. Honda has worked a lot and done a great job. At most of the tracks, they are a little further ahead than the rest."
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