Dani Pedrosa has announced he will retire at the end of the MotoGP season after 12 years at the elite level of motorbike racing.
The Spaniard has consistently been a top performer with Repsol Honda, the team he joined in 2006 after five years in the lower categories.
Across his career, Pedrosa has 31 MotoGP wins to his name, the last of which came at the season-ending race in Valencia last year.
Honda's decision to pair Marc Marquez with Jorge Lorenzo in 2019 left Pedrosa's future unclear, the 32-year-old confirming his plans to step away from the sport on Thursday.
"Next year I won't compete in the Championship, I'll finish my career in MotoGP this season," he told a media conference.
"It's a decision I've thought about for a long time and it's a hard decision because this is the sport I love but despite having good opportunities to keep racing, I feel like I don't live racing with the same intensity as before and I now have different priorities in my life.
"I would like to express how fortunate I feel to have had this experience and these opportunities in my life, it's been an amazing life to have been racing for such an important team and in front of all the fans.
"I achieved way more than I expected and I'm very, very proud of what I've done in the sport. I've fulfilled my dream of becoming a racer and that's something that I didn't expect when I was a kid watching TV, watching riders in the World Championship.
"I would like to take this time to say thanks to Dorna and to Honda for giving me this opportunity way back in 1999, and to all my sponsors who've been with me throughout my career."
