A big crash after changing to slick tyres proved to be a miserable finale to a bad weekend for Dani Pedrosa, as the Spaniard not only failed to earn points on a day in which his three title rivals took to the podium, but also took a further hit to his injured hip.
The Repsol Honda rider had incurred what was identified as a tendon injury to his hip during practice, and suffered the misfortune of hitting the Mugello gravel in exactly the same place when thrown from his 800cc bike. Manager and mentor Alberto Puig was unable to give a medical opinion on his colleague, but did reiterate the tough nature of the fall.
"Everyone saw the crash. Dani hit the same place that was already in a bad way when he crashed, and we will have to wait until tomorrow to see what the seriousness of the situation is. There is just one more test to do, and I suppose that tomorrow we will be able to do it. I’m not a doctor, so I couldn’t say when he’d return to action or anything like that," said the former rider.
"Dani had this hip problem on Friday, and from then on things got worse. Now we just want to make sure that the pain that he has now is from the original incident, and that today’s crash didn’t cause any more damage."
Pedrosa will hope for a return in time for his home race, the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, in two weeks time.
