Pedrosa and Stoner arrive in Europe for Czech GP

Injury concerns for Stoner as the Repsol Honda Team head to Brno

Having just landed from the United States, the Repsol Honda team arrives at Brno with Dani Pedrosa in his best form but still uncertain on the situation with Casey Stoner’s injury.

Podium: race winner Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Repsol Media

Stoner, who suffered a very serious accident in qualifying for the Indianapolis GP, fractured a bone in his right ankle and tore the ligaments. Although he managed to race with a heavily strapped ankle - and scored a formidable 4th position - it remains to be confirmed if Stoner will require surgery, and his medical team in Australia are currently reviewing the results of the MRI scan. He will head out on track at Brno for the Friday morning practice and assess his race fitness then.

Pedrosa will aim to fight for the first step of the podium at the Grand Prix of Czech Republic, where only victory in the MotoGP class eludes him. He is currently second in the MotoGP World Championship standings, just 18 points off Jorge Lorenzo and with seven races to go.

Casey Stoner
"I'm not feeling too optimistic for Brno after a tough weekend in Indy. The crash in qualifying last week has left me with a serious problem in my ankle and we were fortunate that Indy was a left hand circuit, so a lot of the weight was off it but we still had changes of direction, which hurt a lot. In Brno there are many changes in direction and a lot of right hand corners so there will be a lot of weight on my ankle and it's going to be very difficult. It's a shame as Brno is a circuit that I usually enjoy due to it's fast and flowing nature, so I'll be resting as much as possible this week and wait to see how we feel when we get on track on Friday."

Dani Pedrosa
"Brno is a wide and very fast track, with high speed corners where it is important to have good grip and front end feeling. Honda has been strong in the past few years there, so we hope to have a good performance in this race also. I'm looking forward to the race in Brno and to fight again for the victory. The setup of the bike and electronics can be key, as well as the weather, which is always a little changeable in the Czech Republic. We need to keep focused and strong and with options for the victory every weekend."

Source: Repsol Honda Team