Puig insists Pedrosa will continue title fight

Thursday, 24 July 2008

Dani Pedrosa´s mentor Alberto Puig admits the last fortnight has been difficult for the Repsol Honda star but insists his World Championship goals remain the same.

After his brilliant form up until the visit to Germany two weeks ago Dani Pedrosa´s last two GPs before the summer break turned into a nightmare, as he crashed out of the race lead in Sachsenring and lost the MotoGP title advantage, only to fruitlessly fly to California to discover that riding in practice was too painful to allow for his participation in last Sunday´s race.

A win and a second place finish each for Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner in the last two rounds has seen Pedrosa relegated to third in the general standings, leaving him with a frustrating period of rehabilitation to tackle over the summer as he seeks to recuperate from a fracture to both his left clutch finger and wrist and a sprained ankle.

The young Catalan competitor´s manager and mentor Alberto Puig has been by his side throughout the whole process. Having seen his charge undergo surgery on the Monday after his Germany crash, Puig was again at Dr. Xavier Mir´s clinic in Barcelona with Pedrosa on the premature return from California.

`When we got back from the States they put a splint and some ice on his hand and told him to rest completely for one week,´ revealed Puig. `That meant walking as little as possible due to his ankle injury and keeping his hand as still as possible. Next week Dr. Mir will remove the stitches from the hand and Dani will start some physio as he prepares for the Brno race.´

Despite the trauma of the most recent two MotoGP rounds Puig insists Pedrosa´s ambitions remain unaffected. `The objectives have not changed as the task is still to win the title. Obviously two DNFs were not part of the plan. Things have become more difficult, of course, but these things can happen at any time,´ he asserted.

`Now the aim must be to get to Brno and carry on battling for the Championship, trying not to make any mistakes, fighting in every race. We know things can change quickly and that nothing is certain for anyone until the end of the season,´ concluded the former 500cc and 250cc rider.