Pedrosa in pain after fork oil fall
Dani Pedrosa has been left with 'quite intense pain' in his left foot after a big accident in Free Practice 2 for the Czech Republic MotoGP.
The Spaniard was launched from his Repsol Honda due to fluid leaking from the front fork, causing the big highside at Turn 13 on only his second lap of the afternoon.
"It was a big highside. I couldn't really feel that I had a problem on the bike and when I flicked from left to right - I didn't really have time to really flick, but I was already in the air," Pedrosa explained.
"So I make a huge highside and I think when I flipped over and impacted the floor, that was when I had this impact on my foot.
"It is unfortunately the foot I broke in Australia a long time ago [2003]. It's where I have all the screws in and I have quite intensive pain.
"I did an x-ray and it looks like everything is in place [no fracture], but the pain is quite high. The problem is that this is the foot I need to work on the [gear] shift lever and now I have problems to move it.
"I will see in the next hours how I am recovering and how I am tomorrow morning - if the pain is less and I have less swelling and I can work better on the bike."
Pedrosa, who won last year's race, had been a close third fastest in the morning session and only lost one place on the combined lap times despite his absence in the afternoon.
"It is disappointing, here or somewhere else, because to have this kind of issue, to have this kind of crash because of shit like this is not good," Pedrosa added.
World championship Valentino Rossi was also brought down by the oil from Pedrosa's bike. The Italian was unharmed and able to return to the track on his spare machine.
Pedrosa's team-mate Marc Marquez, who led the afternoon session, fell twice on Friday as scorching temperatures caught out a number of riders.
After missing three races earlier this season due to arm pump surgery, Pedrosa has battled for the podium at three of the last four rounds, including a second place in Germany.