Pedrosa defies injury for 'unforgettable' third.

An injured Dani Pedrosa waited until the very last minute before deciding to even start Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, but then produced the surprise of the day to finish a brilliant third.

Pedrosa sustained a deep cut in his right knee when he clipped a kerb on Friday afternoon, sending him into a highside that also cracked his left toe, and struggled in both Saturday morning's final free practice and the Sunday morning warm-up.

However, with the qualifying session having been cancelled due to flooding - and grid positions decided by free practice times - Dani was due to start fifth on the grid, a significant advantage and one which, with the world title on the line, he couldn't surrender.

So, with the aid of a pain killing injection, the 20-year-old rookie took his place on the MotoGP grid - then stormed straight into the lead at turn one! It wasn't to last long, as Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi soon forced their way past, but Pedrosa then amazed even his own team by sticking to the two Italians for all but the final few laps as he comfortably held off world championship leading team-mate Nicky Hayden.

"The result is very good. The big decision today was whether or not I would race, and until the last moment I was still in doubt about it," confirmed Dani, who crossed the line just 3.8secs behind race winner Rossi. "We chose to race and they gave me one injection to take away the pain. Although I felt the stitches pressing under my leathers, the pain on my knee was gone. In the race my left foot hurt, and so did my left knee but in the right knee I felt no pain.

"I got a good start but I was expecting the leaders to pull away and I also expected the lap times to be a little faster than they were. At the end I was very tired - my bike had just the basic set-up because I lost time in practice so I was riding on the limit in the race. In the end I got the result - that's the important thing. Also I was lucky that the qualifying practice was cancelled - to start from fifth on the grid was really, really important for me today.

"I have to say thank you to all the guys in the Clinica Mobile because they worked very hard for me and made me believe I could race. They took so much care of me - it was a very special job. Also to my team because they encouraged me and helped me to race. Thank you to everybody and I will not forget this day," concluded the triple world champion, who could barely stand up on the podium.

Pedrosa's seventh podium of the 2006 season meant he continues to hold second in the world championship standings, four points ahead of Rossi and a reduced 22 points behind Hayden with four rounds to go.

"Dani waited to make the decision whether or not to race until the last minute. It was his decision, he had confidence in himself and he gave us an amazing result given his physical condition," stated team manager Makoto Tanaka. "Just after the race I said, 'That was a surprise!' to Alberto Puig, Dani's manager, but he said, 'Not a surprise - it was fantastic!' He's right, Dani showed his real fighting spirit and his result could be important for the last four races."

The only bad news for Pedrosa, and more specifically his injured knee, is that he will be back on track for free practice at Phillip Island in just five days.