Pedrosa set to miss Jerez test after post-crash surgery

Pedrosa out for three to four weeks after Qatar crash

Wednesday, 4 March 2009

Spaniard undergoes successful surgery but almost certainly ruled out of final preseason test.

Dani Pedrosa is currently laid up in a Barcelona hospital following surgery on his left arm and knee, required due to a testing crash in Qatar that has become even more threatening to his 2009 World Championship chances.

Operated on at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus in the Spanish city, Pedrosa was concurrently subjected to two operations on his left knee and fractured left distal radius –the procedure for the former taking three hours and involving a rotation skin graft from his thigh to replace lost skin and fat.

Surgery on the knee was performed by Dr Bartolomé Ferreira, who indicated after the procedure that minimal movement would be possible within three weeks after the formation of scar tissue, and that the soonest the Spaniard would be able to bend the appendage would be in one month’s time. This would see Pedrosa ruled out of the final test of the MotoGP preseason at Jerez.

The former MotoGP World Championship runner-up’s arthroscopic arm operation was carried out by his regular surgeon Dr. Xavier Mir, who inserted a titanium screw in the joint that will allow full function within ten days.

Pedrosa will be released from hospital before the start of next week, but is unlikely to be at 100% fitness for the start of the 2009 season. The Repsol Honda rider has undertaken just three complete days of testing so far this year, previously leaving the Sepang run-out a day early after complaining of a lack of recuperation in his knee (previously operated on in December).

2009 will be the second season in succession that Pedrosa has been hit by preseason problems. In 2008 he required the insertion of a titanium plate in his hand to fix damage suffered in a crash in Sepang. He reappeared for last year’s Official Test in Jerez, but sat out the BMW M Award shootout so as not to risk reinjuring himself in the rainy conditions. His absence from testing left development of the Honda RC212V to former teammate Nicky Hayden –a task that now falls on current partner Andrea Dovizioso.