After announcing his retirement earlier in the season, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) aka the ‘Little Samurai’ will take part in his last race on Japanese soil at this weekend’s Motul Grand Prix of Japan.
The three-time World Champion was present in the pre-event Press Conference and reflected on his time spent in a country he’s become closely connected to: “We’ve already been to two of Honda’s places; the office and the factory and you can see all the Japanese people are so supportive, so it’s an important race. I’ve always had a good welcome here.”
In addition to a warm welcome off track, Pedrosa had enjoyed success on track at the Twin Ring Motegi. Five wins across all classes – the last coming in 2015 - and a total of 10 podiums gives the 33-year-old hope of a successful weekend, despite also being dished some bad luck at the venue in years gone by.
“It’s been a bit of a 50/50 place for me because, sometimes, I got very good luck and other times very bad luck, but I hope this time we can have a good weekend and try to get the energy from the people here.”
Before his Turn 5 crash, the Spaniard was looking good for a podium challenge in Thailand. Can Pedrosa build on the speed he found last time out to mount a rostrum attack come Sunday afternoon?