Dani Pedrosa explains Laguna Seca withdrawal

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has explained why he decided to withdraw from the American GP in Laguna Seca today.

The Spaniard opted not to ride in today’s practice and qualifying sessions or tomorrow’s 32-lap race because of the severity of the pain caused by injuries he suffered six days ago in Germany.

Pedrosa broke his left index finger and a bone in his left wrist when he tumbled out of the lead at a wet Sachsenring, but had bravely decided to try and ride in California.

But he was only 15th after the first two practice sessions yesterday and he didn’t even appear at the circuit this morning.

Pedrosa said: “This has been a very difficult decision to take, but there really is no alternative. Yesterday I struggled a lot. I rode in the morning using only painkilling pills and the pain was incredible, so I had an anti-pain infiltration before the afternoon session.

“Despite that, I still had a lot of pain. I did a nine lap run and it felt like 40 laps. When I woke this morning I had a lot of pain and the fingers were very swollen. I knew that I couldn’t finish the race in these conditions.

“To face 32 laps would have been impossible, especially since this track is very physically demanding, with many uphill and downhill sections and many left-handers which demand a lot of effort from the left hand and arm.

“At least I tried – if I had stayed at home I would never have known if I could have ridden. Now I have three weeks to recover and do all the necessary rehabilitation to be ready to race in Brno in the best-possible condition.”