Dani Pedrosa vows to focus on racing after arrest

Dani Pedrosa has vowed to not let his arrest for allegedly attempting to cheat during an exam to gain a yachtmaster certificate distract him from this weekend’s opening MotoGP round in Qatar.

The Repsol Honda rider issued a statement via his lawyers apologising to his fans and vowing to focus entirely on this weekend’s season opener in Doha after his arrest last Saturday.

The triple world champion was among 21 people questioned by Spain’s Guardia Civil in Valencia as part of an investigation into the alleged use of an earpiece to aid them during a yachtmaster certificate exam.

According to reports, ten people were found to be wearing earpieces, including the 26-year-old, who has won 38 races in his world championship career.

Pedrosa’s statement read: “Following bad advice I made a mistake. You can either ignore or learn from mistake, and I’ve learned from this. I would like to publicly apologise to my fans and all those who have shown faith in me.

“Now I’m looking forward. I’m a motorcycle rider, the world championship begins this weekend, and I want to focus solely and exclusively on Sunday’s race. I have learnt a lesson from this mistake and wish to leave the issue behind right now and focus on a season that I face with high motivation and enthusiasm.”

For a special 16-page guide to the new MotoGP season, see tomorrow’s (April 4) issue of Motor Cycle News.