Two time 250cc World Champion and long time Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa officially confirmed that he will be racing at this weekend’s French Grand Prix at LeMans, he said on his blog today.
The 29 year old Spaniard, one time his nation’s big hopeful as a future MotoGP champion, has missed three of this season’s four races due to an arm-pump issue that required surgery to correct. His replacement, Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan, has hardly been able to keep up with privateer midfielders, despite riding what many consider to be the best motorcycle on the MotoGP circuit.
Pedrosa wrote that his arm has healed and responded well to physical training since.
“And now, finally, I can tell you that I will be at LeMans this weekend. The truth is that I am very eager to climb aboard the motorcycle, as you can imagine.”
Pedrosa thanked his team and sponsors, who it has to be said have been extremely patient with him over the past years. Pedrosa has been in the factory Honda seat since 2006, and in the nine years since he has not managed to deliver a single world title despite enormous promise. He was the first rider to bypass the rule that rookies graduating to MotoGP may not go directly to a factory team, owing to his awesome potential and rumoured pressure from influential sponsor Repsol.
Pedrosa has claimed 26 MotoGP wins for his 152 starts. he is currently 14th in the championship with 10 points.
[…] for the Mugello race on May 31. However, recovery time might torpedo that plan. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa has only just returned to action after undergoing surgery for arm pump following the MotoGP opener in Qatar. The Honda […]