Pedrosa put back on sidelines

From Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedrosa has been advised to rest for four more weeks to fully recover from the effects of his recent collarbone injury and subsequent surgery.

The Spaniard visited Doctor Xavier Mir at the Dexeus Univertity Institute Hospital in Barcelona on Thursday to undergo further medical tests to determine the reasons for the numbness and lack of strength in his shoulder and left arm, which had affected Pedrosa’s performance in the final races of the 2011 season.

After two days of  tests, consisting of a CAT scan, an MRI scan, electromyography and Eco-Doppler tests, the need for further surgery was ruled out. Following his four-week rest period Pedrosa, who secured second place in the MotoGP World Championship at the final race of the year in Valencia last Sunday, will start rehabilitation and return to physical training in order to regain full fitness for the first MotoGP tests of the 2011 season, which take place in Malaysia at the beginning of February.

“Due to the trauma caused by the crash in Japan where Dani broke his left collarbone and needed surgery to fix the bone with a titanium plate, the nerve located over the collarbone, between the neck and the shoulder, received a severe contusion and the heavy inflammation of this area causes fatigue and lack of strength all through the arm," explained Dr. Mir. "He will need a period of four weeks of complete rest with physiotherapy and anti-inflammatory treatment.”

“I’ve been suffering a lot since Japan and I knew something was wrong with my arm because after the surgery I didn’t get better," Pedrosa added. "This lack of strength was very strange and annoying! I was worried because after Estoril we checked the collarbone again and it looked like there was nothing wrong with the plate, but we had no more time between races to check more deeply the reasons f or my lack of strength. I have had other injuries and surgery in the past and I know that you need some time to recover and get fit again, but this time it was taking too long."