“Today is a sad day for me. On behalf of HRC, I want to thank Dani for all his hard and successful work, and to express our gratitude for these two decades together. We also wish him the very best of luck and success,” HRC President Yoshishige Nomura said of Pedrosa's departure on Tuesday.
It would be easy to take this as traditional rider-sacking PR spin, but on this occasion there will almost certainly be sadness at the situation: sadness that an 18-year partnership has come to a close, and a sadness that the last 12 have failed to produce the MotoGP title Pedrosa so richly deserved.
A Honda man from his very formative years in grand prix racing in the 125cc class in 2002, Pedrosa was at least able to deliver the company a couple of World Championship trophies.
Pedrosa followed up his 2003 125cc title with doubl2 250cc crowns over the next two seasons, an achievement that catapulted him straight to a well-earned MotoGP bow in '06 with the Repsol-backed factory team alongside the late Nicky Hayden.
That statement from Nomura-san may have read differently had Pedrosa's collision with Hayden at Estoril while he was fighting for the title robbed the American of the championship at Valencia next time around.
Mercifully, this has become but a footnote in Pedrosa's incredible Honda career in the premier class; one which has produced 31 victories, 31 poles and 112 podiums to date and three runner-up spots in the championship, losing out to formidable opponents in Casey Stoner [2007] and Jorge Lorenzo [2010 and 2012].
Pedrosa ties for the unenviable accolade of 'greatest rider never to win a premier class title' with '80s hero Randy Mamola.
Much like Mamola, Pedrosa's premier class career has coincided with the rise of giants. Mamola had to contend with adversaries such as 'King' Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Kevin Schwantz, Freddie Spencer and Wayne Rainey. Pedrosa has gone up against Valentino Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo and, perhaps the most difficult of them all, Marc Marquez.
Both were able to mount strong championship challenges against these legends, and came close to usurping them. But misfortune always seemed to strike at the cruelest of junctures. On course for the 2010 title, a sickening crash at Motegi when the throttle on his RC212V stuck open ended Pedrosa's hopes.
In 2012, a crash while chasing eventual champion Lorenzo at Phillip Island gave the Yamaha rider the title. His hopes took a knock at Misano earlier in the year when he was forced to start from last having qualified on pole due to a bike problem, and was taken out by Hector Barbera on the opening lap.
The most gut-wrenching blow that year came at the finale in Valencia. Lorenzo crashed while lapping James Ellison, gifting Pedrosa victory. Had it not been for his Phillip Island crash, the championship would have been his. It seemed misfortune for others reflected on Pedrosa too.
Injury continued to blight Pedrosa's campaigns following the 2012 season, with an increasingly difficult-to-manage Honda, as well as rock-solid rear tyres in 2016 unraveling the undeniable greatness of the diminutive Spaniard.
The fact Marquez has been able to win titles on a bike that had no right to do so didn't reflect well on Pedrosa either, but the two are such radically different riders in every single aspect that those comparisons were hugely unfair on him.
Many have felt Pedrosa has been lucky to remain where he is, and he was fortunate that Stoner's retirement scuppered HRC's hopes of the superstar dream team it nearly had with Marquez partnering the Australian.
But Pedrosa has continually repaid Honda's faith with wins and podiums, as well as proving the consummate professional in a team clearly not fully rallied around him. Pedrosa is the kind of rider every team boss dreams of: fast and loyal. The fact Honda was able to hold onto him for so long is a miracle in itself.
However, the pair have brought their time together to a mutual end. “In life we all need new challenges and I feel it’s time for a change,” Pedrosa said in the team's announcement.
Pedrosa's position at Honda was not secure when 'silly season' kicked into gear, but HRC's favoured choices of Johann Zarco and Joan Mir signing for KTM and [unofficially] Suzuki respectively firmed up the ground upon which the 32-year-old stood. All of the aforementioned bolstered Pedrosa's claim to the second Repsol RC213V.
So what changed?
Pedrosa's 2018 has been tough. A wrist injury has hindered him, and a podium was on the cards in Spain before he was embroiled in the Dry Sac carnage instigated by the Ducatis. A front tyre issue dropped him from the podium battle in Qatar to seventh, while a woeful Mugello weekend brought about by a complete lack of rear grip meant he qualified a career-worst 20th and crashed at Luco in a futile bid to make up lost ground. All of this means a slim total of 29 points and 12th in the championship standings currently headed by Marquez.
Lorenzo – who has signed a two-year deal with Honda – winning convincingly at Mugello on the same weekend Pedrosa hit his lowest ebb may well have been the final nail. Lorenzo has had a similarly disastrous 2018 prior to Mugello, but his victory came as the result of long-awaited changes to the Ducati's fuel tank, which allowed him to ride more naturally.
Not only was Lorenzo's win convincing in terms of the 6.4-second gap he romped home with, it convinced the rest of the paddock that, with the changes he requested, he could fight at the front.
It stands to reason the same philosophy can be applied to the Honda. The RC213V is a difficult bike, but HRC must be convinced it can be successful with Lorenzo if it listens to his feedback. With that said, signing him to join Marquez gives Honda the superstar dream team Stoner's retirement denied them.
Perhaps Pedrosa took the decision out of Honda's hands. If Pedrosa was always heading for the exit, why did HRC not make a bigger play for the highly sought-after Mir? Honda reportedly signed a pre-contract with the young Spaniard, and it is hard to imagine his future hinged on what Pedrosa decided to do. Suzuki more than likely could offer Mir something Honda was not willing to, and HRC maybe thought it could at least rely on Pedrosa for one more year.
So what now for Pedrosa?
In a separate statement, he commented that more news on his future will be revealed during the Catalan Grand Prix weekend, his home event. Retirement is an option, but the more likely scenario is he does what many feel would have won him multiple championships by now and join Yamaha.
The Sepang International Circuit are reportedly in talks to take over the in-crisis Marc VDS team with Petronas backing, fielding satellite the YZR-M1s Tech3 has ditched in favour of KTMs.
Pedrosa's racing options are limited, with a highly unlikely [but massive, if it did happen] switch to World Superbikes or a more probable move to the potential SIC Yamaha team his only realistic destinations.
Ducati has promoted Danilo Petrucci, while Jack Miller will remain at Pramac alongside already-confirmed Moto2 hotshot Francesco Bagnaia.
Mir's signing to Suzuki will means Andrea Iannone's bags will be packed almost certainly in the direction of Aprilia, while the remaining Tech3 KTM has gone to Hafizh Syahrin. Only seats at Avintia, Nieto and LCR remain, and neither seem worthy enough to sign Pedrosa's paycheques.
Retirement cannot be ruled out. Pedrosa still has plenty of quick years left in him, but perhaps moving to a Yamaha could see him face the realisation that, as mentioned earlier, he could have been much more successful on an M1. Is regret over wasted years worth potentially adding a few more wins to his tally?
Lorenzo was thought to be in line for one of those M1s, with Franco Morbidelli joining him. Pedrosa is a very fair alternative. The M1 is an incredibly user-friendly machine, as rookies Zarco and Jonas Folger proved last year.
With Pedrosa's size not likely to be a hindrance on a Yamaha – should he decide to see what he could achieve on an M1 – and if the Japanese marque was to offer some factory support, perhaps Pedrosa could leave Mamola as the sole holder of grand prix racing's 'greatest bridesmaid' label.
Even if he is not able to do this, at the very least he will be able to prove the ever-mounting pile of doubters that he is still unquestionably one of MotoGP's fastest.
