Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) suffered a huge highside crash in FP2 at the Twin Ring Motegi, and the most successful rider at the venue has found himself sidelined for the rest of the event – and possibly the two following flyaway races. A return to Barcelona for surgery seems the likely course of action, although Pedrosa is no stranger to the injury and the injury appears to be the least serious of the collarbone breakages Pedrosa has previously suffered.
Pedrosa will be replaced for the event by former 250 World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama, who also subbed for the Spaniard in 2015.
Dr Xavier Mir, MotoGP™ Medical Team: “Pedrosa has a fracture in his right collarbone, with first indications showing it is a fracture that requires surgery. The fracture is not displaced but the bone is in four pieces; circumstances that usually require surgery. Cranial trauma that we first suspected is negative – he is ok, conscious and remembers everything. He was also injured slightly on his left foot, but the collarbone is the biggest thing. In the history of collarbone breakages Pedrosa has suffered, this appears the least serious. It seems that he will return to Barcelona to be operated on tomorrow, although that is not yet decided for definite. The team and rider will make their own decisions regarding treatment and course of action.”
Dani Pedrosa: "I’m obviously very sad about what happened, as I was looking forward to racing in Japan at Honda’s home circuit and one of my favourite tracks. I was on the out-lap of my last run in FP2 when I momentarily lost the rear entering turn 11, and when the tyre found grip again it launched me in the air. There’s not much more to say; now I just want to focus on recovering in order to get back on my bike as soon as possible. My best wishes to Hiro (Aoyama), who is replacing me and will race in front of his home crowd.”
Hiroshi Aoyama: “First of all, I’m very sorry for Dani and I wish him a fast recovery. This definitely is not the best way to come into a race, but anyway, I’ll try and give my best for Honda in front of my friends and fans. I won’t be able to use my racing number, as 7 has already been taken by Mike Jones, so I’ll use 73, which is the number I used in my first season in the 250cc GPs.”