Pedrosa hopeful about fitness for Spain

The injury-plagued Honda rider jarred his hip in practice at Mugello and struggled for the rest of the event, eventually crashing out of the race.

He was concerned that the problem might also hamper him in his home event at Catalunya this weekend, but he now believes that pain-killing injections will allow him to compete comfortably.

"For the past week I've just been resting and that's pretty boring," said Pedrosa. "But today I went to see the doctor and the results of the new scan have been quite positive.

"They decided to give me a trial pain-killing injection so that I can judge how it will feel ahead of the weekend. And today's scan really helped them pinpoint the best location for the injection so it can have the maximum effect, which was something they weren't able to do in Mugello.

"The feeling was good, so it looks like I'll have an injection before riding each day. Obviously it's still not going to be comfortable riding the bike but I'm feeling positive that we can go into the weekend and aim for the best possible result."

Pedrosa, who won all three of MotoGP's Spanish races last year including Barcelona, said he will not lower his expectations for this weekend's grand prix even though he will be in discomfort.

"In spite of the problems, my motivation for my home race is still the same," he said.

"I've been waiting for this race for a long time and I want to get the best possible result for all the fans who will be there to support me. I hope I can give them a good weekend."