[kropotkin thinks...] - Pedrosa Fractures Wrist At Qatar Test

[Ninjette Newsbot]

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Dani Pedrosa's 2009 season is getting off to a nightmare start. After sitting out the first day of testing at Qatar, judging that the rain had made the track to slippery to risk crashing and damaging his slowly healing knee, the Spaniard suffered a big highside on the second day of testing.

Pedrosa crashed at Turn 10, a left hander which opens up quickly to become a fast turn, badly injuring both his left knee and his left wrist. He was rushed back to the Clinica Mobile, where he was examined and found not to have broken anything, but he did sustain a suspected fracture of the left wrist, the same wrist Pedrosa injured in his spectacularly painful crash at the Sachsenring last July. The medical director at the circuit told the press that although Pedrosa had injured his wrist and leg, he had not suffered a bang to the head and had not lost consciousness. His injuries were severe enough for the Spaniard to require an oxygen mask to help calm his breathing.

Pedrosa will be flown back to Barcelona on Tuesday morning, where he will undergo a CAT scan to determine the full extent of his injuries. There is a good chance that Pedrosa will be fit enough to take part in the official IRTA test at Jerez at the end of the month, but whether he will be at full fitness then is subject to doubt.

The session was red flagged because of Pedrosa's crash, and then red flagged again shortly after, after a crash by Mika Kallio left some oil on the track.