Andrea Dovizioso defends Pedrosa over shoulder problem

Andrea Dovizioso has jumped to the defence of factory Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa as the Spaniard faces a race to be fit for the next race in Portugal early next month.

Pedrosa underwent surgery on a long-standing left shoulder injury last week to solve a numbness issue that had plagued him since he hurt the shoulder in a practice crash in Japan last October.

Pedrosa thought he was fully recovered going into the start of the 2011 MotoGP world championship but was troubled by a numbness issue in the opening two races in Qatar and Jerez. He later discovered a titanium plate inserted after his heavy Twin Ring Motegi crash was compressing an artery and causing the numbness issue.

The recurrence of the problem on his way to third place in the season’s opening race in Qatar raised the question of why Pedrosa hadn’t assessed his left shoulder over a full race distance during winter testing.

But Repsol Honda team-mate Dovizioso told MCN: “I’ve heard many people criticise Dani because of this but in a test you never push like you do in a race with the same tension, the same adrenaline. It’s impossible. The bad point is that nobody understood his problem before now. But the power you put in a race is ten times than the race simulation, so he would never have found out until Qatar anyway.”