Surgery relief for Dani Pedrosa

Dani Pedrosa has been told he needs four weeks complete rest to make a full recovery from the left collarbone injury he first suffered in late September at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Spaniard had feared he might need more surgery on the damaged left collarbone that forced him to miss three races after a jammed throttle saw him crash during opening practice for the Twin Ring Motegi race.

Pedrosa complained of numbness in his left arm during the Estoril and Valencia races. And after taking part in the traditional Valencia test session last week, he underwent further checks at the Dexeus Univertity Institute Hospital in Barcelona.

Further surgery was ruled out and the 25-year-old, who finished runner-up in the 2010 world championship, was told a four-week rest period would help him recover fully.

Doctor Xavier Mir said: “Due to the trauma caused by the crash in Japan where Dani broke his left collarbone and needed surgery to fix the bone with a titanium plate, the nerve located over the collarbone, between the neck and the shoulder, received a severe contusion and the heavy inflammation of this area causes fatigue and lack of strength all through the arm.

“He will need a period of four weeks of complete rest with physiotherapy and anti-inflammatory treatment.”

The crash in Japan wrecked Pedrosa’s slender world title hopes and he said: “I’ve been suffering a lot since Japan and I knew something was wrong with my arm because after the surgery I didn’t get better.

“This lack of strength was very strange and annoying. I was worried because after Estoril we checked the collarbone again and it looked like there was nothing wrong with the plate, but we had no more time between races to check more deeply the reasons for my lack of strength.

“I have had other injuries and surgery in the past and I know that you need some time to recover and get fit again, but this time it was taking too long. Now everything is clear and it’s good to know that the collarbone is OK and I don’t need any more surgery that would take a long time to heal.

“I hope that within these four weeks the inflammation passes gradually and that I will be able to start rehabilitation and training in the middle of December.”