Catalunya MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa vows to fight on

Brave Spaniard Dani Pedrosa has vowed to bounce back from his latest crash misery to race in tomorrow’s Catalunya MotoGP race in Barcelona.

The 23-year-old suffered another painful and morale-crushing crash in the final moments of a sun-drenched qualifying session this afternoon, Pedrosa throwing himself off his Repsol Honda RC212V as he careered through the gravel trap towards a trackside tyre wall at high speed.

The triple world champion landed heavily on his right side again and was taken away on a stretcher, but he didn’t need immediate treatment in the circuit medical centre.

Pedrosa is only riding this weekend with the aid of pain-killing injections after he suffered serious muscle damage in his right hip during practice for the Italian GP in Mugello.

Pedrosa, who will start from eighth on the grid tomorrow having missed the crucial last five minutes of the session, said: “When I hit the ground it was very painful, but now it’s not too bad and I plan to ride.

“I’ll need another injection. I’m reasonably satisfied with my pace today, especially considering how things felt yesterday.

“We’ve qualified for the race and, although I’d have preferred to be on the front two rows, this position is OK.

“In fact, I think I could have been a row further forward had I not had the crash in the last few minutes of qualifying – that’s the period when the best times are usually set.

“I went into the corner a little bit too fast and wide and had to run straight on. Then I saw the air fence and decided it was best to get off the bike.

“This morning I had an injection for the pain, which worked quite well so I didn’t have another one for the afternoon, though it was becoming more uncomfortable by then.

“Tomorrow I’ll have another injection and we’ll try to take the best result possible in the race. It’s going to be extra hard work because of the heat, but there are a lot of my fans out there so I’ll be riding my hardest for them.”

Pedrosa wasn’t the only rider to crash out during an exciting finale to today’s 60-minute qualifying session. Texan Colin Edwards lost the front-end of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 at Turn Four.

He too missed the decisive final phase of the session but luckily only slipped down the rankings from fifth to sixth.

Edwards, who starts from sixth spot on the grid for the fourth time in six races in 2009, is still being hampered by a lack of feel from the front-end set-up of his YZR-M1 machine.

The 35-year-old said: “I guess I’m pretty fortunate to have finished on the second row considering I crashed out at the crucial stage of the session.

“We made some changes overnight to help me get more comfortable with the front-end and while it was better, I’m still not close to the comfort level I need to go as fast as I know I can.

“I’m still not comfortable in the middle of the corner and I can’t get it to turn or hold a line. Even when I was on the soft tyres towards the end I still didn’t feel like I could push too hard.

“I’m normally really smooth but I can’t ride like that right now. Luckily I’d done a pretty decent time on my first two softer tyres because on the last one I crashed out.

“The crash was a bit weird because I lost the front really early while I was still hard braking and leaning over. Normally when I lose the front it’s at the apex when I’m starting to force the front.

“If I’m being honest then on race tyres I’m not that confident because of the set-up issue with the front. I know Valentino, Jorge and Casey are all running a good pace and it’s crucial to get a good start and try and tag onto the back of them.

“I’d love to say I’m going to be on the podium tomorrow, which is what I had aspirations of, but it’s looking difficult.”