MotoGP Sepang test: Dani Pedrosa undergoes successful surgery

Factory Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has undergone a successful two-hour operation to plate a broken right hand in Spain.

The triple world champion had a plate and six screws inserted into the Y-shaped fracture in his right hand following a crash on the opening day of 2008 winter testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on Tuesday.

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Doctors said the operation was a complete success, but refused to speculate on when Pedrosa would be able to return to track action, with Honda and Michelin desperate to get crucial development information from him before the season starts in Qatar on March 9.

The normal recovery time for Pedrosa’s injury is six weeks, but it is widely expected that he will return to ride the factory RC212V in Jerez next month. Pedrosa has no chance of making a shock comeback in Sepang on February 5, meaning he will have missed more than half of the ’08 pre-season testing campaign.