Full Honda line up at Laguna

From Repsol Honda

Dani Pedrosa will join Repsol Honda teammate Nicky Hayden at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, despite the heavy tumble he took during last Sunday’s rain-lashed German GP.

World Championship challenger Pedrosa was leading the race when he fell at high speed, fracturing the left index finger and the big bone of the left wrist and spraining his right ankle. After the accident he immediately returned to Spain where he was treated by Dr. Xavier Mir at Barcelona’s Instituto Universitari Dexeus hospital. He left hospital at noon on Tuesday and flew to the US on Wednesday.

“In agreement with my doctor we have decided that I will fly to the US and I will do my best to ride this weekend," Pedrosa said. "We know that it will not be easy and that we won’t know my exact situation until I get on the bike on Friday morning.

"This is a difficult time for me, of course, but my will is strong and if it is possible for me to ride the bike properly then I really want to ride. Laguna is a physically demanding track when you are 100%, so it will be tough with my injuries, but I know I can count on the support of the people around me to get me in the best possible shape."

Former MotoGP World Champion Hayden, winner of the 2005 and 2006 US GPs, comes to Laguna Seca following a run of ill luck and hoping that the first of his two home races this year will turn things around for him and his pneumatic-valve RC212V.

“I’m excited to go to Laguna, even if we go there on a bit of a run of bad luck," Hayden said. "Laguna certainly has a special place in my heart. The track itself is like one big lap, it’s not like all different sections, a lot of the turns lead into one another, so you’ve really got to put it all together. Like if you screw up the Corkscrew you miss the next three or four corners. It’s a very technical track and I love it."

Sunday’s US GP is the last event of a frantic run of six races over eight weekends. The MotoGP circus now takes its traditional summer break, reconvening for the Czech GP on Aug. 15-17. Repsol Honda and the rest of the MotoGP grid returns to the United States for the inaugural Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix on Sept. 12-14.