Pedrosa to be examined for finger and ankle fractures in Barcelona

A crash suffered whilst leading the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland could have left Dani Pedrosa with a broken finger and fractured ankle.
Whilst some of his MotoGP World Championship rivals will be making a direct journey to Laguna Seca for next weekend´s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Dani Pedrosa will be making a brief stopover in Barcelona to undergo examination on a suspected broken index finger and ankle injury.
The Repsol Honda rider was leading the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland when he crashed out of the race, taking a big impact as he was flung from his RC212V. The fall dealt a double blow to the Spaniard, who not only conceded the lead in the World Championship but also could be affected by the latest in a string of injuries.
Pedrosa was examined in the Clinica Mobile immediately after the crash, with MotoGP Medical Director Dr. Claudio Macchiagodena giving an initial diagnosis of a fractured left digit. Further examination at the Clinica Dexeus in Pedrosa´s home city will reveal the full extent of the damage caused by the Sunday afternoon spill, the cause of which he was at a loss to explain.
`It was a little strange. I had only just touched the brake and I crashed. It was a real pity because I´d got a great start and was going well. I had a good feeling. The front felt perfect, the rear was sliding just a little, but the general feeling was good considering the track conditions. It is a real pity, ´ said the rider himself.
Finger fractures are notoriously fickle for riders, as their effects can vary wildly depending on the exact location of the break and how this corresponds to the demands of gripping and operating levers. With this in mind, Pedrosa´s participation in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix could be in doubt.

source:motogp

Stoner dedicates third straight win to team

World Champion Casey Stoner paid tribute to his team after picking up his third consecutive win and his fourth of the season at Sachsenring.
It was another extraordinary performance from Casey Stoner in torrentially wet conditions at the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland on Sunday.

Stoner struggled throughout the race with a stomach upset, but held his nerve to take victory in the rain and close the gap to series leader Valentino Rossi to 20 points, having trailed by 50 just three races ago - and is now only four points behind crasher Dani Pedrosa in second place.

In addition to Pedrosa, Marco Melandri was another rider to be caught out by the wet conditions. The Italian was in the process of a stunning charge through the field and had made his way up to seventh place from sixteenth on the grid, only to crash moments after setting the fastest lap of the race.
Casey Stoner - first

`I saw Dani ride off into the distance and I thought `fair play´ - there was no way I could keep that pace in those conditions at that time. We definitely needed a bit more time to get the tyres up to temperature and Dani just kept edging away, but then after a few laps I was coming down the main straight and I could see his bike bouncing around in the gravel at turn one. It´s a shame for him but even though he crashed he was still very impressive today. From then on it was a case of keeping my concentration but that wasn´t easy because I´ve been a little sick all weekend and I wasn´t feeling at all good during the race. Also, we went with quite a hard rear tyre compound and I had quite a few small moments that made me nervous but kept me on my guard. I kept pushing where I could and managed to keep opening out the advantage with every lap, then kept it upright to the end. It´s nice to close the championship down a little bit more and once again I owe a huge thank you to the team, who have adapted the bike to virtually any condition here.´

Marco Melandri - DNF
`This time I feel angry that we didn´t get the result we deserved, not disappointed that we haven´t been fast, as has been the case on other occasions. The crash was a real shame because even though there´s always the chance of making a mistake in the wet I felt good at that time, the tyres were up to temperature, the bike was working well and I was coming through fast. I don´t know how many riders I passed but it was a few and I felt fast, happy and positive. The group ahead of me were some distance away but I felt I could keep improving. In fact, we´d made progress with our pace in the dry and we´ll see how we go from here in America. It´s a nice track and I hope we can start out well.´

source:Motogp

Stoner steals German win as Pedrosa slides out

World champion Casey Stoner claimed his third successive MotoGP victory as series leader Dani Pedrosa crashed out in treacherous, wet conditions in Germany on Sunday.
Former champion Valentino Rossi took over at the top of the standings as he defied the rain at Sachsenring to claim second place behind Stoner, whose fellow Australian Chris Vermuelen was third.

Stoner consolidated third place overall as his nearest rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards joined Pedrosa in tumbling off their bikes.

Pedrosa made a sizzling start to the race as he passed polesitter Stoner to take a comfortable seven-second lead, and then saw compatriot Lorenzo crash out on just the third lap of the 30.

Pedrosa did not last much longer, as his Honda slipped out from underneath him on the next lap on a corner and sent him aquaplaning off the track, across the gravel and into the safety barriers.

He picked himself up after the spectacular spill, seeming to be holding his left wrist, but there were no reports on his fitness ahead of the next round at Laguna Seca in the United States next week.

Stoner took over the lead on his Ducati and experienced no such problems with his Bridgestone tires as he cruised to victory ahead of Yamaha's five-time champion Rossi, who now leads Pedrosa by 16 points

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"I am very excited about the result as it has seen me take back the overall lead," Rossi told reporters. "I eventually got up to a great pace and very close to Casey. These 20 points are very important."

Stoner, who gave Ducati the team's first victory in the event after starting a fourth successive race in pole position, closed to within four points of Pedrosa on 167.

"I have been feeling sick since Saturday morning and my concentration levels were low," Stoner said. "I was losing it in all different places. We were lucky to come out of this with the victory."

Vermuelen claimed his first podium placing this year for Suzuki as he held off Italian Alex de Angelis.

Veteran American Edwards had seemed set to continue his resurgence with another solid placing, but also crashed off the slippery circuit when fifth with 10 laps to go.

Marco Melandri, who before the race revealed that he had secured a release from his Ducati contract for the 2009 season, was another casualty as he also skidded off during the eighth lap.

Earlier, Italy's Marco Simoncelli moved to the top of the 250cc world standings with victory ahead of Spain's Hector Barbera and Alvaro Bautista, while previous leader Mika Kallio of Finland could finish only fourth.

Mike di Meglio of France won the 125cc race ahead of Germany's Stefan Bradl and Gabor Talmacsi of Hungary.

Hopkins´ goal to return at Brno after successful surgery

Kawasaki´s injured Anglo-American star John Hopkins underwent surgery in L.A. on Monday and is expected to require six to eight weeks of recovery time.
Following his 230km/h crash at the A-Style TT Assen and the full assessment of his injuries by trusted orthopaedic specialist Dr. Arthur Ting, John Hopkins underwent knee and ankle surgery on Monday and has been told he will need three weeks of complete rest on his damaged leg before an extensive rehabilitation programme can commence.

It had already been confirmed that Hopkins would miss the trips to Laguna Seca and Sachsenring, after he was diagnosed as having sustained a fracture to the bottom of his left tibia, reopened a previous fracture also in the left tibia and fractured the lateral malleolus, at the top of his left ankle.

Further examination by Dr. Ting also revealed a tibial plateau fracture just below the knee, and damage to the meniscus (cartilage), which was causing Hopkins´ knee joint to lock. Surgery took place on Monday to reset the bones in the ankle and repair and reattached the meniscus in the knee.

As a result of the operation Hopkins will not be able to bear any weight on his damaged left leg for three weeks, after which he will undergo extensive rehab, with a full recovery from his injuries expected to take from six to eight weeks in total – meaning that returning to action at Brno in the Czech Republic after the summer break is an optimistic but achievable goal.

Hopkins has already battled back from a painful injury this season after he ruptured his groin in winter testing and he now faces another hard slog as he attempts to turn his difficult debut season with Kawasaki around.

Michael Bartholemy, Kawasaki´s Competition Manager, commented, `I am sorry for John, as I know he was looking forward to racing in front of his home crowd at Laguna Seca, where he always enjoys a lot of support. But it´s just not possible; he has had surgery to fix the injuries he sustained at Assen, and now he needs sufficient recovery time to ensure that he´s fully fit before he makes his racing return.´

`Obviously we are hoping that this return will come in the Czech Republic Grand Prix,´ continued Bartholemy, `but we will be monitoring John´s recovery very closely and we have no intention of putting him back on the bike before he´s ready. If this means he doesn´t race at Brno, then that´s how it will be, because we don´t want to risk making things worse by allowing him to return before he is fully recovered.´

The `Team Green´ boss added, `Now we know the full extent of John's injuries we are looking at the possibility of running a replacement rider at Laguna Seca. We will make a further announcement about this ahead of this weekend´s German Grand Prix.´

(source:motogp)

Corsi and Bautista confirm pole position

As rain made cutting times in Donington difficult for the 125cc riders, Simone Corsi could rest easy with the pole position all but his.

Although not a renowned wet weather rider, Simone Corsi likely breathed a sigh of relief when it became clear that Saturday´s second 125cc qualifying session would take place in the wet. The Italian had already claimed the provisional pole spot on Friday afternoon in dry conditions, meaning that he was unlikely to be troubled in the decisive session.

Corsi´s 1´37.488 lap proved to be the pole clincher, giving him his first start from the front of the grid since Portugal. The Jack&Jones WRB man emerged victorious from that race, and is looking to do the same in order to keep up the pressure on series leader Mike di Meglio –who starts from 21st after some Friday gearing problems.

Reigning World Champion Gabor Talmacsi will line up alongside Corsi in his fifth front row start of the year, having picked up a recent run of consecutive podium finishes at Mugello and Catalunya. He remained less than a tenth away from Corsi´s marker.

The front row is completed by Talmacsi´s Bancaja Aspar teammate Sergio Gadea and home rider Scott Redding, the first Britain to qualify on the first line of attack at Donington Park since 1988 (when Niall Mackenzie placed on the front row for the 500cc race and Alex Bedford in the 125cc class.). The Blusens Aprilia rider has just one appearance at Donington Park to his name, but commanded the track like a veteran in yesterday´s session.

There will be an empty grid space behind Corsi on Sunday afternoon, with Pol Espargaro ruled out of action with a fractured collarbone. The Belson Derbi rider, who has finished fourth, fourth, third and second in the last quartet of races, will now head to Barcelona for a consultation with Dr. Xavier Mir, missing the bwin.com British Grand Prix.

I.C. Team´s Andrea Iannone, Corsi´s teammate Nico Terol and Repsol KTM rookie Marc Marquez will line up in a trio on the second row. Marquez suffered a spectacular crash on Saturday afternoon, with no effect on his participation in tomorrow´s race.

Bautista takes fourth pole with Donington Friday time
Alvaro Bautista will start the 250cc bwin.com British Grand Prix from pole position, courtesy of his Friday hot lap.

As in the 125cc class, the nature of split qualifying sessions played into the hands of the provisional poleman in 250cc. With a wet track with which to set about improving on dry times, Alvaro Bautista was the principal beneficiary in the quarter litre class, taking a fourth pole of the season and continuing his 100% record of front row starts courtesy of his Friday marker. With the chance to take the lead in the overall standings this weekend at Donington Park, and on a run of winning form, Marco Simoncelli joins Bautista on the front row for the fourth time in as many races. The Metis Gilera rider and his Spanish rival will be accompanied by Team Toth´s Hector Barbera and Emmi-Caffe Latte man Thomas Luthi on the first line.

(source:moto-live)