Dani Pedrosa withdraws from Laguna Seca race

Dani Pedrosa has withdrawn from the American GP at Laguna Seca.

The Spaniard is set to be driven back to San Francisco this afternoon having decided that the injuries he suffered in a crash while leading the German GP last weekend are too painful for him to continue.

The triple world champion, who lost the lead in the world championship when he crashed out of a 7.5 second lead in a wet Sachsenring race, did not ride in this morning’s third and final free practice session.

He had planned to skip the session and return only for this afternoon’s qualifying session, but Repsol Honda staff has just confirmed he has decided not to ride in tomorrow’s 32-lap race.

The Repsol Honda rider had suffered a broken left index finger and a badly sprained right ankle but he still opted to fly to California to try and ride and salvage some points.

But after finishing down in 15th place yesterday, he has opted to return to Spain to regain full fitness before the series resumes after the summer break in Brno on August 17.