2011 MotoGP
It’s confirmed – Dani Pedrosa will return this weekend at Mugello, Round 8 of the 2011 MotoGP Championship.
Pedrosa, who has missed the last three rounds (Catalunya, Silverstone, Assen), has been recovering from injuries sustained in the controversial crash with Marco Simoncelli at Le Mans. During the MotoGP wreck, Pedrosa broke his right collarbone; this wreck came as the Spaniard finally recovered from breaking his left collarbone at 2010 Motegi MotoGP.
Pedrosa had surgery a few days following Le Mans MotoGP, but had to undergo further surgery due to the bone not correctly setting.
Pedrosa blogged about his MotoGP return this weekend in Mugello, Italy.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V MotoGP) says: “For some weeks now I have wanted to tell you when I’ll return to action, and finally today I can. These past weeks have been difficult, but I knew I had to concentrate on my recovery in order to ensure that I get back on the bike in the best way possible. As I said last week, Mugello was the objective and it’s the only thing I’m thinking of at the moment.
“I head to Italy with great motivation to be back on the bike, to see how I’m feeling and to compete. As well as riding again I’m really looking forward to getting back and seeing all the team, working with them and trying to do well. At the end of the day we’re like a family. You miss it when you spend such a long period without competing.”
“The truth is that it (collarbone) has improved a lot since I had the second operation. It seems we’ve solved the problem and the good feeling I had in the days following the operation confirmed that. Now I need to see what I feel like when I’m on the bike during a race.”
At last weekend’s Assen MotoGP, Hiroshi Aoyama substituted for the injured Pedrosa. After missing three of 18 rounds, Pedrosa is in sixth place with 61 points, 75 behind current MotoGP leader Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda).