Australian return "realistic" for Pedrosa

From Repsol Honda Team

The busiest phase of the 2010 MotoGP season sees the Repsol Honda Team arriving in Malaysia’s capital city Kuala Lumpur this week for the second of three races in three weekends. After Sunday’s Grand Prix of Japan in which Andrea Dovizioso took a close second place, the factory Honda squad will be looking for another competitive showing from the Italian rider at a circuit he rates as one of his favourites.

His team-mate Dani Pedrosa is still in Spain recuperating from the surgery he underwent on Saturday to plate the fractured collarbone he suffered during practice for the Grand Prix of Japan. The 25-year-old left hospital on Monday after the successful operation and returned for a further check-up on Wednesday. Following the medical consultation, the target for Pedrosa’s return to racing is the Australian Grand Prix beginning on Oct. 15, although Pedrosa said as he left hospital that there remains a very slim chance he will still make the trip to Malaysia for this weekend’s race.

“I am still very stiff in my neck and across the back of my shoulders, so the target is to get back to racing in Australia," Pedrosa admitted on Wednesday. "There is a very small possibility of going to Malaysia, but the realistic target is Australia. I had another check-up today and it shows clearly that the plate on my collarbone is very well fixed and the progress has been good after the operation. My condition has improved over the last two days and I’m doing passive rehabilitation with my physiotherapist at the moment. I am still not able to move the arm by myself but with massage it’s getting better.

"It’s a real pity that this happened when we had such a lot of momentum with our results, but we simply have to deal with it.”