[kropotkin thinks...] - Pedrosa Certain To Miss Sepang MotoGP Round

[Ninjette Newsbot]

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Any chance that Dani Pedrosa had of snatching the 2010 MotoGP championship from the grasp of Jorge Lorenzo disappeared on Friday at Motegi, when the Repsol Honda rider suffered a nasty crash which fractured his collarbone. Pedrosa flew straight back to Spain to have the collarbone plated, in the hope of making a speedy return to racing. Realistically, though, his hopes were gone, for Pedrosa would have to win the remaining four MotoGP rounds, while Jorge Lorenzo would have to score next to no points in the rest of the races for Pedrosa to become champion. Beating Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner is hard enough when Pedrosa is fit, let alone a week after breaking his collarbone in three places.

In a press release issued today by the Repsol Honda team, Pedrosa explained that his recovery was progressing well, but he implicitly conceded that his chances of the title were gone. Though he did not rule out a return at Malaysia, both the team and Pedrosa judged the chances of that happening as being "very small". Pedrosa is suffering from a lot of stiffness in his neck and his shoulders, and is still incapable of moving his arm under his own strength. He is undergoing physiotherapy to help fix the problem, but it requires time for his shoulder to be strong enough to race again.

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