Dani Pedrosa broke his collarbone in a bad crash during practice for Sunday’s MotoGP event in Japan. It all but hands the 2010 world championship to fellow compatriot Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo, who rides for Fiat Yamaha in the series, has seen his once invincible lead being slowly whittled away by the consistent Pedrosa, who has beaten Lorenzo in the last three events.
However, Pedrosa came off his Repsol Honda bike just five minutes into the first practice session for this weekend’s race, held at the Motegi circuit, a rescheduled event as it was cancelled in April due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud. As soon as Pedrosa, who was standing 56 points behind Lorenzo in the title race, had ended up in the gravel, it could be seen to everyone in the paddock that he was in grave pain. Although he scrambled to the edge of the gravel bed, marshals spotted his discomfort and he was carried away on a stretcher, realising that his brave, if vain title challenge for 2010 was well and truly over.
The diagnosis was later confirmed as a broken collarbone for Pedrosa, and although reports also suggested that he has fractured his left ankle in the crash, this was denied by medics at the circuit and by his Honda team. At Honda’s home circuit, this is bound to be a bitter pill to swallow. Pedrosa is being flown home back to Spain for surgery on the injury and is definitely out of this race, and next weekend’s event in Malaysia. With Australia being just one more week afterwards, it looks increasingly likely that he will have to miss three races, with a possible return in Portugal being lined up at the end of October.
Although it isn’t official yet, this confirms Lorenzo’s name as the 2010 champion, which has been almost been in clear writing ever since his team-mate and great rival, Valentino Rossi fractured his ankle at June’s Italian Grand Prix in Mugello. Although Rossi has made a significant and remarkable recovery, he still doesn’t look 100% fit. Neither does Randy de Pruniet, who fractured his leg in a multiple smash at the following month’s German Grand Prix. With this in mind, it is best that Pedrosa rests up and recovers fully for next season. With Rossi and Pedrosa’s injuries and Casey Stoner not getting on with the Ducati, it has meant that Lorenzo has had a fairly untroubled ride to this season’s championship, having only missed the podium once in thirteen occasions. However, his championship glory will be tainted, largely because of these cruel injuries to two of his rivals. Consequently, he will have to win another title next year before anyone can class him in the legends of bike racing.
I wish Dani Pedrosa a speedy recovery and congratulate Jorge Lorenzo on a deserved championship, though no-one would want to win it this way. The message to Jorge for next year: Prove how good you really are against a rejuvenated Stoner, a charged-up Rossi and a fully recovered Pedrosa.
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