Dani Pedrosa aims for Phillip Island return

Dani Pedrosa has revealed he plans to return to MotoGP action at the spectacular Phillip Island track in Australia later this month.

The Spaniard though has refused to completely rule himself out of making a shock return in this weekend’s Sepang race in Malaysia, just a week after he smashed his left collarbone in a practice crash at the Twin Ring Motegi.

Pedrosa needed a titanium plate and eight screws inserted in his left collarbone after a throttle malfunction saw him lose control of his factory Honda RC212V on the first day of practice for last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The crash killed off the 25-year-old’s remote hopes of winning the 2010 MotoGP world crown and Fiat Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo needs to score only six-points in Sepang to claim the title with three races remaining.

A return in Malaysia this weekend seems highly unlikely and Pedrosa said: “I am still very stiff in my neck and across the back of my shoulders, so the target is to get back to racing in Australia.

“There is a very small possibility of going to Malaysia, but the realistic target is Australia. I had another check-up today (Wednesday) and it shows clearly that the plate on my collarbone is very well fixed and the progress has been good after the operation.

“My condition has improved over the last two days and I’m doing passive rehabilitation with my physiotherapist at the moment. I am still not able to move the arm by myself but with massage it’s getting better.

“It’s a real pity that this happened when we had such a lot of momentum with our results, but we simply have to deal with it.”