Mugello MotoGP: More injury torment for Dani Pedrosa

Dani Pedrosa’s injury nightmare continued in Mugello today, the luckless Spaniard suffering serious muscle damage in his right leg during an incident in this morning’s final free practice session. 

The Repsol Honda rider rode through the pain barrier to qualify eighth this afternoon but the 23-year-old was in excruciating pain after suffering the muscle damage when he nearly high-sided his RC212V machine this morning. 

X-rays taken at the Clinica Mobile suggest the triple world champion has torn a muscle completely away from the top of his right femur, piling on the injury misery for Pedrosa.  

Having shrugged off pre-season testing injuries to superbly fight his way back into world title contention with three successive podium finishes, Pedrosa’s hopes of a fourth consecutive top three in Mugello tomorrow look over.

The spectacular circuit is one of the most physically demanding on the calendar with a series of fast direction changes.

Pedrosa was still not fully recovered from left leg injuries he suffered in a pre-season testing crash in Qatar in early March and he said: “I had big slide and then a high-side and didn’t crash but I felt a crack in the top of the femur in my right leg, the pain was unbelievable.  I stopped the practice and went to the doctor and had some X-rays. We cannot see for sure but it looks like the tendon is pulled from the bone a little.

“The pain is so intense that I lose all the power in my leg. It is like a misfire in my leg every time I put pressure on it.  I tried injections for qualifying but they didn’t help’. The nerve gets pressed and then the pain shoots through my leg.”

It was injury also that cost Pedrosa the chance to fight for the 2008 world championship when he suffered leg and arm injuries in a big crash out of the lead at the German GP.