Pedrosa set to miss Jerez test

The Spaniard had an operation in Barcelona yesterday in which a titanium screw was inserted in his left wrist to mend a fracture, and a skin graft was taken from his thigh to repair a wound on his left knee.

The latter injury is likely to rule Pedrosa out of the Jerez test on 28-29 March as Dr Bartolome Ferreira, who carried out the procedure on the knee at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus, said a four-week recovery period is needed.

"We have to wait for the injury to heal," said Dr Ferreira. "In three weeks the patient will be able to start making slight movements, to then start flexing in at least four weeks' time."

The news is a further blow to Pedrosa's pre-season preparations, which have been heavily disrupted by injury.

Last year he broke his wrist in a crash at the German Grand Prix, and then injured his knee at Phillip Island.

Continued pain from the surgery on the latter wound forced him to withdraw from last month's Sepang test after two of the three days, and he then sat out day one at Losail this week due to poor weather, before crashing halfway through the second session. Pedrosa's Repsol Honda landed on him after a high-side at Turn 10, causing the latest injuries.