Qatar test: Dani Pedrosa on latest crash blow

Dani Pedrosa has talked about the latest in a long line of high profile and costly crashes after injury ended his Qatar test on the second night.

The Spaniard will fly back to Barcelona for further checks on left wrist and knee injuries he suffered when he high-sided his Repsol Honda on a cold and blustery second night at the Losail International Circuit.

Pedrosa was just about to enter the left-handed Turn 10 when he suddenly lost grip from his Bridgestone rear tyre. Having been thrown into the air, when Pedrosa landed, his RC212V machine landed on top of him.

He needed lengthy treatment in the circuit medical centre where it was revealed he had re-opened a knee wound on his left leg, which was the legacy of winter surgery after his crash on the opening lap of last year’s Australian MotoGP.

He also suffered nasty swelling to the left wrist, which was immobilised for him to fly home and undergo further examinations in Barcelona.

Doctors in Qatar said X-rays conducted at the circuit showed no evidence of a fracture, but sometimes bone damage could take one to two days to show up. Pedrosa will undergo further scans to check on the scale of the wrist damage.

He said: “The early part of the session went quite well and I was happy with the progress we were making. The conditions weren’t ideal with the sand blowing on the track, but this was an unexpected crash.

“I was entering Turn 10 and I had a high-side and then the bike came down on top of me. It’s a shame because we also lost testing time yesterday, but now I will go home for some more scans and hopefully they won’t show anything more serious.”

Pedrosa will now have missed three of the scheduled eight days of 2009 testing, assuming he recovers in time for the final session in Jerez on March 28/29.

Problems with his left knee forced him to fly home a day early from last month’s Sepang test in Malaysia.

Last night’s crash is the latest in a catalogue of smashes for the triple world champion.

He missed most of the last year’s winter campaign when he crashed and broke his hand on the first day of 2008 testing in Sepang.

And a crash while leading the German GP last July at the Sachsenring killed off his world title hopes when he broke his hand again, which forced him to withdraw from the American GP.