All the factory rides in MotoGP are now officially tied up as both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso have signed contracts with Repsol Honda for next year’s MotoGP season. Specifically, Pedrosa has agreed to a one-year extension on his contract, while Dovizioso has signed a deal for 2010, with an option for the 2011 season.
With Dani Pedrosa’s contract for 2010 with Honda all but signed, a brief wrench was thrown into the plan when Ducati was turned down by Jorge Lorenzo. This rejection gave further weight to Ducati’s similar pursuit of Dani Pedrosa, who was reportedly offered a similarly high salary figures.
Now with the renewal of Nicky Hayden’s contract, the avenue and bargaining chip for Pedrosa has shut, and there is really only one factory ride left for Dani: Repsol Honda. After Misano, it appears any rumors of Pedrosa jumping ship will finally be put to rest, but for the next few days, what that deal has in its provisions will be of some interest.
With Jorge Lorenzo’s contract up at the end of this season, rumors are beginning to make their way through the MotoGP paddock about where the Spaniard will be racing next season. While Lorenzo has stated he would prefer to stay at Yamaha, he has also stated that he “knows what he’s worth.” For anyone playing MotoGP silly season, that’s an open invitation to assume that offers from Honda could have potential of becoming true.
If that title didn’t illicit a “huh?” from you, then let us be the first to say the MotoGP rumormill has kicked it up a notch now that we’re about a third of the way through the 2009 season. The first rumor up to bat is the talk that Red Bull, the maker of the energy drink with wings, is looking to sponsor a MotoGP team. Early speculation places Red Bull flying into premiere motorcycle racing with the factory Honda team, which is currently Repsol Honda.
That brings us to our next rumor in this double-header, Repsol is rumored to be considering a move to Yamaha next year. Displeased with the performance Honda has given them in bringing a Spanish MotoGP Champion into fruition, the Spanish Oil company is looking for new tune at the Piano making company. More bizzaro after the jump.
Dani Pedrosa announced today that he has sufficiently recovered from from Mugello, and will be racing at Barcelona for the Catalan GP.
This announcement shows truly how determined riders like Dani are, as the Spainard would easily qualify for any sport’s disabled list. Pedrosa was given the “all clear” after doctors conduct a trial of injecting the Repsol Honda rider with painkillers, and then testing him for sensitivities to pain and motion.
Although Dani Pedrosa didn’t have the best weekend in Mugello, he did win the title of the fastest man to ever ride a MotoGP bike. The Jockey sized Spainard was clocked in the speed trap at a phenomenal 217.03mph, shattering the previous record set by Makoto Tamada by 4mph.
If you’re a close watcher of MotoGP, you may know that Dani Pedrosa suffered a bad crash in the second Free Practice session of the Mugello GP that severely injured the Spaniard’s hip. In the incident, Pedrosa was nearly flicked off his Repsol Honda, and landed poorly on the groun, causing a tearing of a tendon at the top of his thigh.
Pedrosa would go on to race in the Italian GP, but crashed out midway through. Fortunately, the second crash didn’t aggrivate his hip/thigh injury.
The Repsol Honda team has just issued a press release on Pedrosa’s condition. It is enclosed after the jump.
Bridgestone race tire manager Tohru Ubukata has issued an official apology to Dani Pedrosa and the Repsol Honda Team for the condition of Pedrosa’s front tire during the Japanese GP at Motegi. As you can see in the photo, Pedrosa came back into the pits after the race with chunks of rubber missing from the tire carcass. Bridgestone has promised to carry out a full investigation to find out why the tire was missing pieces at the the end of the Motegi GP.
According to Ubukata, no other riders or tires were affected with a similar malfunction, which makes this an unfortunate incident for Pedrosa:
“We did see some problems with Dani Pedrosa’s medium compound front Bridgestone tire after the race. All the other tires that were used during the weekend, and this season, performed well so we can say this is a problem isolated to just this one tire, but of course we have already taken the tire to our technical center in Tokyo where we are investigating the problem in detail.”
Pedrosa could very well owe his 3rd place finish to that tire malfunction, being unable to pass Rossi after several opportunities. Its a good thing the official track car of MotoGP isn’t a Ford Explorer.
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Dani Pedrosa was operated on by a team of doctors at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus yesterday evening. The medical staff placed a titanium screw in Pedrosa’s left wrist and a skin graft on his left knee. The two doctors carried out both of the three-hour operation at the same time, with the left knee skin graft taking the most time. At the press conference the doctors spoke about each procedure and the likely recovery time.
“Dani Pedrosa received a graft on the open wound using a rotation graft, a graft of skin and fat taken from the inside of his left thigh to cover the affected area,” stated Dr. Ferreira. “We must now wait for scar tissue to form; the patient will be able to start moving a little within three weeks and within a minimum of four he can begin to bend the leg.”
“The fracture on the left distal radius, which was affecting the joint, has been repaired, it was then fixed with a titanium screw. The functioning of the affected zone will begin within ten days, in the meantime Dani Pedrosa will stay in hospital for the next 72 hours” said Dr. Mir.
With doctors saying that it will be four weeks before Pedrosa can even bend his knee, it is very likely that Dani will be unable to test at Jerez, which is in three weeks.
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The injury Dani Pedrosa suffered at Qatar is worse than at first thought. We reported earlier that Pedrosa had come away from the accident with only bruising and swelling, but after a closer examination it is now apparent that Dani has suffered a distal radius fracture, an injury which will require the fitting of a titanium screw to compress the fracture. He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday afternoon.
