Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa will miss this weekends Grand Prix of Japan at the Motegi, after the Spaniard fractured his collarbone in first practice, after crashing out after just 2 laps. It was later discovered that a problem with the throttle cable on his RC212V stoped the title chasing 25 year old from closing off the power under breaking into Turn 9 and this made Pedrosa lose control.
“Obviously this has been a really bad day for us.” said Pedrosa “It was a strange crash in only my third lap, in a slow section of the track. I tried to stop the bike as usual but I knew something was wrong and couldn't avoid going down. After the crash I knew immediately that I was injured because it was very painful. I had a big impact in my left ankle and also my collarbone was broken as I hit the track so obviously it feels very unlucky because recently we have had really good results,”
The accident has forced a run of 4 top-2 finishes to come to an end for Pedrosa, as he has flown back to Spain for surgery on the injury, and up to this point, Pedrosa has had no injury worries, unlike the majority of the field.
“I've been very healthy through the pre-season and through the year and we had been working a lot to get to and stay at the maximum level. Another injury to contend with is really not what I needed – I don't feel as though I deserve it. Anyway, once the doctors had checked everything here, we decided it was best to go back to Spain for the operation. I hope it goes as well as possible and that I can return to racing soon.”
