| After his triumph in the Cataluña MotoGP on Sunday, Dani Pedrosa was brought back down to earth - literally with a bump - yesterday when he damaged his back in a fall during the first of two private practice sessions for the Repsol Honda team at the Montmeló circuit.
He was treated at the Dexeus Clinic in Barcelona by Dr Xavier Mir, who later confirmed that X-rays reveal severe "lumbar trauma and muscle distention."
Ordered 48 hours' complete rest, the young rider is spending the day with his family, who live locally.
He was thrown off his machine on the final straight immediately after rounding the final right-hand bend.
Pedrosa strolls to Cataluña MotoGP win
By: thinkSPAIN
Monday, June 9, 2008
 Dani Pedrosa won his second title of the season with an impressive victory yesterday at the Cataluña MotoGP in Montmeló to add to his triumph at the Spanish MotoGP in Jérez at the end of March.
Overtaking pole-leader Casey Stoner on the first corner, Pedrosa soon built up an impressive lead that kept him well out of a highly entertaining dog-fight for second place (photo).
Having started ninth on the grid after a disastrous qualifying campaign, championship leader Valentino Rossi swapped second place with the reigning world champion two or three times before the Australian was finally caught two laps from home.
Pedrosa's win cuts Rossi's championship lead to seven points and widens the gap on arch-rival, and fellow Spaniard, Jorge Lorenzo - who suffered the latest in a series of recent crashes during qualifying and was unable to race - to 41 points.
English former Superbike champion, James Toseland (27), finished sixth.
Cataluña MotoGP result:
1 D Pedrosa (SPA) Honda
2 V Rossi (ITA) Yamaha
3 C Stoner (AUS) Ducati
4 A Dovizioso (ITA) Honda
5 C Edwards (US) Yamaha
6 J Toseland (GB) Yamaha
7 C Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki
8 N Hayden (US) Honda
9 S Nakano (JPN) Honda
10 J Hopkins (US) Kawasaki
World championship standings, points after seven races (18 races in total):
1 V Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 142 pts
2 D Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 135
3 J Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha 94
4 C Stoner (AUS) Ducati 92
5 C Edwards (US) Yamaha 69 |
