Exactly 20 years ago, on June 29, 2002, at the age of 16, Dani Pedrosa took his first 125cc victory at the Dutch GP, after starting from the position of honor and managing his race with ease
Dani Pedrosa was a milestone in the world of motorsports. The Spaniard from Sabadell has had a long career with motorcycles, in a unique and successful relationship with Honda. And 20 years ago, the well-known #26 took his first 125cc victory, at the 2002 Dutch Grand Prix.
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First of all, it is important to give a spoiler of Dani's career: he is a three-time champion, winning in 125cc in 2003, and then a two-time 250cc champion in 2004 and 2005. He arrived in MotoGP in 2006 with great momentum to be a multi-champion, but it never happened. In all, in the premier class he won 31 victories, 112 podiums, and 30 pole positions.
But it all started in 2001, when the young rider arrived in 125cc. He was selected by the Movistar Activa Cup, which was a program to select new talents. Honda boss Alberto Puig sponsored Pedrosa, who immediately took two podiums in his debut year.
However, it was only in the following season that the Spaniard would achieve his first victory. It happened in the Dutch GP, seventh round of the championship. With the pole-position secured on Saturday in Assen, Pedrosa had a good chance to win.
He started well. He was chased by Joan Olivé, his teammate. However, he was no real threat to Dani. Soon the 16-year-old driver opened a comfortable lead of more than 3s. The interesting battle was between Olivé and the rest of the field, as the Spaniard lost positions, but did not take long to regain them.
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While Pedrosa calmly crossed the finish line, Olivé kept up the fight with Lucio Cecchinello for the third place on the podium. He succeeded on the last lap, finishing behind Manuel Poggliali in second and Pedrosa, the race winner.
After that stage, Manuel was still leading the World Championship with 131 points. Pedrosa was right behind him, 20 kms behind the Italian. Frenchman Arnaud Vincent closed the top-3, with 103. When the championship came to an end, Honda's #26 finished third.
After the titles in the smaller categories, Dani dedicated himself to MotoGP, from 2006 to retirement in 2018. Although he never became champion, he became memorable, especially for Honda. The same year he retired, he was added to the list of Legends of the premier class, which has great names in motorsports. Today, at age 36, he is a test rider for KTM, alongside Mika Kallio.