The Red Bull Grand Prix at Laguna Seca is set to go this July 4th weekend, but already the race is two racers short, despite the fact that not a single GP bike has taken to the track yet. Two resident MotoGP rookies, Mika Kallio and Yuki Takahashi, will both miss the US GP, due to medical related issues.
Dani Pedrosa announced today that he has sufficiently recovered from from Mugello, and will be racing at Barcelona for the Catalan GP.
This announcement shows truly how determined riders like Dani are, as the Spainard would easily qualify for any sport’s disabled list. Pedrosa was given the “all clear” after doctors conduct a trial of injecting the Repsol Honda rider with painkillers, and then testing him for sensitivities to pain and motion.
If you’re a close watcher of MotoGP, you may know that Dani Pedrosa suffered a bad crash in the second Free Practice session of the Mugello GP that severely injured the Spaniard’s hip. In the incident, Pedrosa was nearly flicked off his Repsol Honda, and landed poorly on the groun, causing a tearing of a tendon at the top of his thigh.
Pedrosa would go on to race in the Italian GP, but crashed out midway through. Fortunately, the second crash didn’t aggrivate his hip/thigh injury.
The Repsol Honda team has just issued a press release on Pedrosa’s condition. It is enclosed after the jump.
Stiggy Racing Honda has confirmed that Jake Zemke will replace injured rider John Hopkins for the Monza round of the World Superbike Championship. , although that goal seems lofty. In the interim, Zemke will have to fill his shoes.
John Hopkins last week at Assen. While initial reports suggested that no bones had been broken, Hopkins, upon his return back to California, found that in addition to the muscle and tendon damage suffered in the dislocation, he also had a fractured femur. The renowned surgeon and motorcycle crash specialist, Dr. Ting operated on Hopkins on Monday, inserting screws to fix the fracture. Hopper has already left the hospital to start his recovery at his California home, and hopes to return to competitive action at the US round of WSBK at the Miller Motorsport Park on May 31st.
If you were to ask John Hopkins what his least favorite track is right now, we’d bet good money the American would say the Dutch track Assen. The last time Hopper was in Assen, he smash his leg in a huge crash, which left him sitting out of two races, and struggling in pain for the rest of the season. Now, after only four laps around the course this year, Assen has shown its teeth again for Hopper. During the free practice today Hopkins dislocated his hip in another big crash, and there is doubt surrounding his return to riding by Sunday.
Nicky Hayden is a go for Friday’s practice session for the Polini Grand Prix of Japan, although the American will not be fully recovered from his Qatar highside. Hayden still has several stiches from his practice session crash at Qatar, but they should not affect his ability to ride hard on Sunday.
Former Formula1 Champion, Michael Schumacher, has called off his plans to race this weekend at Lausitzring in Germany in the German IDM Championship on Holzhauer Racing’s Honda CBR1000RR. Schumacher had been team back in November, and prior to that has been seen taking laps on both Hondas and Ducatis in the past.
Dani Pedrosa has confirmed that he will be racing at Qatar for the opener of the MotoGP season. Pedrosa has been sidelined since a crash while testing, which led to him needing surgery on his leg and arm. Speaking on his blog at repsol.com, the Spaniard announced that he had decided at the last minute to head to Losail, and to risk further injury by riding.
Dani Pedrosa was operated on by a team of doctors at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus yesterday evening. The medical staff placed a titanium screw in Pedrosa’s left wrist and a skin graft on his left knee. The two doctors carried out both of the three-hour operation at the same time, with the left knee skin graft taking the most time. At the press conference the doctors spoke about each procedure and the likely recovery time.
“Dani Pedrosa received a graft on the open wound using a rotation graft, a graft of skin and fat taken from the inside of his left thigh to cover the affected area,” stated Dr. Ferreira. “We must now wait for scar tissue to form; the patient will be able to start moving a little within three weeks and within a minimum of four he can begin to bend the leg.”
“The fracture on the left distal radius, which was affecting the joint, has been repaired, it was then fixed with a titanium screw. The functioning of the affected zone will begin within ten days, in the meantime Dani Pedrosa will stay in hospital for the next 72 hours” said Dr. Mir.
With doctors saying that it will be four weeks before Pedrosa can even bend his knee, it is very likely that Dani will be unable to test at Jerez, which is in three weeks.
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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.