The injury Dani Pedrosa suffered at Qatar is worse than at first thought. We reported earlier that Pedrosa had come away from the accident with only bruising and swelling, but after a closer examination it is now apparent that Dani has suffered a distal radius fracture, an injury which will require the fitting of a titanium screw to compress the fracture. He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday afternoon.
Testing was cut short for the first day at Qatar as a rare rainstorm put a hold to the first session under the lights of the MotoGP Official Night Test. At 6pm there were ambient temperatures of 68ºF and track temperatures of 75ºF, but an hour later heavy rain drove the riders off track and back into the shelter of their pit-boxes. Almost half the MotoGP field had not left their garages before the rain arrived, including Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, and Dani Pedrosa.