Dani Pedrosa (Honda) had the worst possible weekend in Argentina during the last round of the MotoGP championship series. On the very first lap of the race, a clash with Johann Zarco (Yamaha) resulted in a violent high-side for the Honda factory rider. As a consequence, Pedrosa fractured a bone in his right wrist.
Immediately following the Argentina race, Pedrosa underwent surgery on his wrist and a single, titanium screw was used to stabilize the fracture. After rehabbing, Pedrosa thinks it is worth it to attend the Austin round this coming weekend and attempt to ride.
Pedrosa’s teammate Marc Marquez has dominated at the Austin track where he will attempt to gain his sixth straight MotoGP win. Here is a press release from Repsol Honda in advance of this weekend’s race:
After undergoing successful surgery to his right wrist one week ago, Dani Pedrosa has begun his rehab period and, although he’s obviously not yet at 100%, will join Marc Marquez in the United States to try and take part in the third round of the MotoGP World Championship in Austin.
Marc and Dani have strong records at the technical, 5.513 km Texas circuit. Marc took his first MotoGP pole and victory at the venue in 2013 and has continued to post flawless qualifying performances and victories there ever since, bringing his tally of consecutive successes in the USA to 11 across all classes. Dani has climbed the Circuit of the Americas podium three times out of the four occasions on which he has raced there.
The Repsol Honda Team, in turn, have a streak of 14 GP wins in a row on American soil, starting with Pedrosa’s Indianapolis victory in 2010.
At the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
- Marc Marquez has 5 wins and 5 Pole Positions (MotoGP: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
- Dani Pedrosa has 3 podiums (MotoGP: 2nd in 2013 and 2014; third in 2017)
Marc Marquez
“After a good start to the season in Qatar, we got no points in Argentina, but I was feeling good on the bike in both races, which is positive. The season is long and the most important thing is that our level is there. Now we go to Austin, a good circuit with a good atmosphere and great memories: it was the place of my first pole and my first MotoGP victory and we’ve been able to be strong there since then, so it’s a good place to try and get a good result. That said, every season is different: the bikes, the tyres, the conditions. This year some work was done to reduce the bumps, so we’ll see how the track is. As we’ve done so far, over the weekend we’ll focus our work on the race setup, and then on Sunday we’ll see where we’re able to finish.”
Dani Pedrosa
“Since the operation, I started feeling a bit better every day. I’ve been doing exercises to gain mobility and reduce the inflammation. Little by little I’m recovering muscle tone, and this allows me to see some progress. From here it’s difficult to know our real possibilities. We’re going to a difficult track and until I’m back on my bike I won’t be able to really know my situation. But what’s clear to me at this moment is that it’s well worth it to travel and try. An important part of my strength to go to Austin comes from your messages of support, so thank you very much to all of you.”
MotoGP 2018 – Tuesday, April 17th 2018
Rider Standings
Limited to top 30 results
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crutchlow Cal | 35 | GBR | 38 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 2 | Dovizioso Andrea | 4 | ITA | 35 | Ducati Team | Ducati |
| 3 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | 28 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha |
| 4 | Vinales Maverick | 25 | SPA | 21 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 5 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | 20 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 6 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 19 | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 7 | Petrucci Danilo | 9 | ITA | 17 | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 8 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | 16 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki |
| 9 | Rossi Valentino | 46 | ITA | 16 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 10 | Iannone Andrea | 29 | ITA | 15 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki |
| 11 | Rabat Tito | 53 | SPA | 14 | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati |
| 12 | Pedrosa Dani | 26 | SPA | 9 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 13 | Syahrin Hafizh | 55 | MAL | 9 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha |
| 14 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | 6 | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda |
| 15 | Espargaro Pol | 44 | SPA | 5 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 16 | Redding Scott | 45 | GBR | 4 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia |
| 17 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | 3 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 18 | Bautista Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 3 | Angel Nieto Team | Ducati |
| 19 | Lorenzo Jorge | 99 | SPA | 1 | Ducati Team | Ducati |
| 20 | Abraham Karel | 17 | CZE | 1 | Angel Nieto Team | Ducati |
See more of MD’s great photography:
I guess its ok for Zarco to make Dani crash, without penalty. But Boo-Hoo if Rossi falls after he runs into Marc. I wonder if anyone watched the replays, and compared the 2?
Wow.
Strong candidate for Worst Post Of The Year.
joe b voiced an opinion, like it or lump it, and asked if anyone compared the two crashes. I haven’t reviewed the two crashes but wouldn’t mind knowing if there are any other perspectives on it.
VLJ, your post contained zero information or insight. You seem to need to be reminded from time to time that your opinion is valid but that other opinions are valid as well. Where are the mods?
Bubba, read his post. Besides the basic fact that he’s flat-out wrong regarding everything he stated, his post looks like it was quick-texted by a petulant seven-year-old.
“BOO-HOO”?
Is that the sort of post you would show to people as a solid example of what goes on here?
Not your call – it’s the mods. You make your share of less than Pulitzer comments. Whether a comment is wrong, right or in between is up for discussion.
Your bullying is getting old and a brief ban by administrators wouldn’t go astray to keep you in check.
Bubba, exactly what is the difference between my posting my opinion that his post was awful, and his posting of his awful opinion?
You grant him license to post his opinion, but you deny me mine?
Well, isn’t that special.
Whether facts are right or wrong is not up for discussion, since they’re facts, and, as I said, he got every single thing wrong in his post. Not opinions. Facts.
Fact: What Marc did to Espargaro and Rossi was illegal. We know this because the Race Stewards penalized Marquez for his reckless riding. We also know this because he later apologized for his error. Furthermore, he and Puig made the post-race walk to Rossi’s garage to apologize for his error.
Those are irrefutable, immutable facts. Marc was in the wrong. Thus, joe b was wrong.
Additional Facts: Zarco was not penalized by the Race Stewards, nor was he castigated by the announcers, Repsol Honda, or Dani Pedrosa.
Zarco was not in the wrong. This is also a fact. To equate his clean pass on Dani (in which no contact was made) to what Marc did to Rossi is just pure idiocy. Thus, joe b is wrong again. He doesn’t have his facts straight.
Do you have a problem with that? Then you have a problem with facing facts.
Do you have a problem with my opinion that his post was written extremely poorly? Well, it was chock-full of grammatical errors, the tenor was that of a petulant child, and that’s on top of the fact that he got every single thing wrong.
And you whine to Dirck to have me suspended?
Proud moment in your posting career, Bubba. Good job.
VLJ has posted here for a long time, and his comments are generally well thought out and respectful. I do think his “worst post of the year” comment is pretty harsh. Frankly, I think the original comment by Joe B is very reasonable … I don’t think I understand why Zarco wasn’t penalized in connection with the crash of Dani Pedrosa. In general, if I see give-and-take balancing out reader comments (here, Bubba came back at VLJ) I don’t step in to moderate, suspend or ban someone. Having said that, we don’t tolerate personal attacks, or name calling, but once again, I try to see if the readers can work it out themselves, when possible. Play nice.
Sorry, you are a keyboard bully, period. Hopefully Dirck recognizes this and doesn’t give you the last word when you tantrum. No one else is speaking up as they don’t want to deal with your harassment. Have a good day.
Dirck, I think it would be rather difficult for Race Direction to penalize a rider for overly aggressive riding when no contact was made between the two riders involved. One can hardly accuse Zarco of recklessness when he was able to execute the pass in clean air.
The most telling aspect of the Zarco pass is that notorious hothead Alberto Puig (Dani’s Repsol team leader and former business manager) issued no statements condemning Zarco, nor did anyone else within the Repsol Honda garage. Considering the vitriol directed their way by the Monster Yamaha camp as a result of Marc’s actions, it’s probably safe to say that Honda would have volleyed it right back if they felt there was anything to justify it.
Can’t find it now, but Pedrosa was quoted saying it was ridiculous Zarco was not penalized. Also, Zarco arguably left the track to cut under Pedrosa. In the end, we should just let everyone express their opinion, and here I think reasonable minds can differ. Leave it at that.
Yes, many people watched the video, most importantly, the race officials, who saw that Marquez’ hit deemed a penalty and Zarco’s didn’t. It probably didn’t help Maq’s case much that it was his third penalty in that race..
Zarco and Pedrosa actually didn’t make contact. Zarco stole the line from the small opening that Pedrosa left open. It was agressive but fair. I had originally thought to move to be reckless until I watched it again n.
Marquez lunged for the line on the brakes. He was much too late to go for it and came it way too hot. It was really bad judgement, and it didn’t look like it could be pulled off under any circumstances, though I don’t think the incident is as egregious as many others do. I personally think the move he made on Espargaro was worse, but nobody went down on that one. Anyway, he deserved the penalties with the two successive infractions. Just my opinion.
Sorry for being late to the party but being on call sucks! Anyway, read the posts about MM taking Rossi out be fore watching the race and must admit the posts made it sound worse than it actually was. I watched the race later and was surprised how bad it wasn’t. Granted, MM was totally wrong, but Rossi crashed after running off the track and trying to change direction on wet grass, not from the direct contact with MM. If he’d gone straight instead of turning, after being being pushed wide, he might have made it. On the other hand, Zarco forced Pedrosa wide on a wet track. Would have been fine on a dry track. Pedrosa high sides and walks off with a fracture. Rossi has his feelings hurt and he’s not injured. Zarcos aggresive pass was just as bad as MM’s if you look at the results of each.
Pedrosa should retire. He rides too “safe”. He has the same bike Marquez does, weighs 30 lbs less.
I’d much rather see him on a different factory ride.
Dani, you’ll be ok with the new rule changes: There’s no passing in corners, heaven forbid that fairings touch, or there’ll be a season ending disqualification, and the new name of Moto GP will be “Powder Puff Racing”.
Wait a second. Aren’t you the guy who rides a scooter and somehow still talks shit to other people about how they can’t hang with you?
Bwaaa.
LOL! Yep, that’s me and who threw a banana in your cage?
COTA is going to be interesting to see how the old “GOAT” handles MM getting under his skin and into his head.
Man… You have a physical job, banging bars with other riders at over 100-150mph, and you can’t even get a week off for a fractured wrist! (or don’t think your job is safe if you don’t?)
I need a beer..
With all the talk about Lorenzo taking Iannoni’s ride at Suzuki next season, who is the favorite to take Dani’s spot next year at Repsol Honda?
A few weeks ago, it seemed a fait accompli that Zarco would follow Tech 3 to KTM, but, man, I don’t know. If I’m Zarco, giving up a competitive Yamaha for a noncompetitive KTM (and a team that has never won a single race in MotoGP) might be a bridge too far, even if he does love his team. Instead, I would push Yamaha to create a third factory ride for him, similar to what Petrucci has with Ducati, and Crutchlow has with Honda. Failing that, I’d try my damnedest to nab Dani’s ride.
All of which is to say, I think this is why Dani is trying to come back so soon and race in Austin. He has to know his ride for next year is in jeopardy, and with the ascension of Zarco, Dani is feeling the heat.
Where is Ianonne going?
I’m not sure where Zarco would ride a 3rd factory Yamaha. There still needs to be a team assembled to field the bike. That already existed in both Crutchlow and Petrucci’s cases.
I can’t see Zarco staying with Tech 3 while going to a KTM. I think he will most likely go to Ducati, but I bet Honda will also try to tempt him through LCR. Ultimately, I think Honda is keeping Dani’s seat warm for Morbidelli.
Zarco is going to take Pedrosa’s spot. Lorenzo for Iannone, Ducati (?), maybe Miller. Pedrosa to KTM. Atleast that is my guess.
I think it would take truckloads of money to get Zarco to KTM right now. The Ducati seat vacated by Lorenzo or possibly Suzuki makes more sense. I’d guess Honda will take Morbidelli. Ducati will probably promote Petrucci unless Zarco comes on board.
Best of luck Dani. A classy, clean racer who has had more than his share of bad luck during his career. I would love to see him win a championship before he retires.
+1 to that.