Dani Pedrosa confirms he will return for Mugello after injury lay-off

The Honda rider sustained the injury in a collision with Marco Simoncelli during the French round of the world championship, and then required a second operation to fix a further fragment of bone.

"For weeks I've been wanting to write that I'm back to competition and I can finally do it," Pedrosa wrote in his blog for sponsor Repsol.

"These weeks have been difficult, but I knew that I had to focus on recovering to climb on the bike in the best possible shape. As I said last week, Mugello was the goal and that's the only thing I'm thinking now."

"I'm going to Italy eager to get on the bike, to see what my feelings are and to compete.

"Apart from getting on the bike, I also want to see the team again, work with them and try to do things right. At the end of the day we are like a family. You miss them when you don't compete for so long."

Pedrosa added that he was optimistic he was back to full fitness now, although he would not be totally certain until he was back on the bike.

"As for the recovery, the situation has improved a lot since I had my last surgery," he said.

"It seems that we found the problem and the good feeling that I had two days after the operation have been confirmed during the past week. Now I see to see how I feel on the bike."