Pedrosa Will Try to Ride

Henny Ray Abrams | July 14, 2008

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa will try to race in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, despite severely damaging his left hand and spraining his right ankle in a crash in Sunday’s rain-soaked German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring, according to his manager. “Dani (Pedrosa) will travel, but may or may not race,” said Alberto Puig in Barcelona late on Monday afternoon. Pedrosa will spend Monday night in the USP Instituto Universitari Dexeus in Barcelona with his left hand in a cast after receiving treatment for his various injuries. He will be reevaluated in the morning, but, regardless of the prognosis, he plans to fly to America, Puig said. The Spaniard crashed out of the lead in the first turn of the sixth lap of the German GP while holding a 7.5 second lead. He and his Honda RC212V tumbled through the gravel trap and into the air fence. Pedrosa went in head first, the motorcycle landed on top of the air fence. Pedrosa didn’t appear seriously hurt when he walked away. But a trip to the Clinica Mobile confirmed the injuries. Pedrosa was flown to Barcelona Sunday night and examined by renowned hand specialist Dr. Xavier Mir, who earlier this year worked on Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo after his horrific accident in China. In a press release Dr. Mir said that “Dani Pedrosa presents a general inflammation of the left hand with hematomas in the sheathes of both extending tendons. The pilot shows a displaced fracture of the distal phalanx of the left pointing finger, which has been reduced. Further on, the patient presents a sprain of the proximal interphalaxical joint of the middle finger of the left hand which has been totally immobilized. Finally, he has undergone a fixation of a fracture of the big bone of the left wrist by an arthroscopic technique. It is confirmed that the patient has suffered a lateral external sprain of the right ankle.” “It was a little strange,” Pedrosa said on Sunday. “I had only just touched the brake and I crashed. It was a real pity because I’d got a great start and was going well. I had a good feeling. The front felt perfect, the rear was sliding just a little, but the general feeling was good considering the track conditions. It is a real pity.” The crash cost Pedrosa the MotoGP World Championship lead. The Spaniard now trails Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi by 16 points, 187 to 171, with German race winner Casey Stoner (Ducati Yamaha) a resurgent third with 167 after 10 of 18 rounds.