Pedrosa unsure he can "handle" full Austin race

Pedrosa fractured his right wrist in a crash at the previous round in Argentina, undergoing surgery in the aftermath, and opted to travel to Austin to assess his fitness.

He was passed fit by MotoGP’s doctors and went on to qualify his factory RC213V in ninth place, but expressed doubt over whether he can last the full race distance.

“I struggled more, I had more pain, clearly more pain,” said Pedrosa on his feeling in qualifying, compared to Friday’s practice sessions.

“I had a little more movement in the grip, so a little more freedom to move in the bike, but more pain.

“I don’t know if I can handle all the race, if I even finish, but we will plan a little bit more care for painkillers for the race.

“I hope this can make the difference and I can try to get through the full laps.”

Pedrosa explained that, aside from the pain, the position of his injury is also complicating his ability to extract the maximum from his Honda.

“The brake is difficult, but also the control,” said Pedrosa.

“To change direction [in the] race it is really tough, more so where I use the bone in changing the direction of the bike, and also moving my body from side to side.

“I am a little bit stiff there, I cannot put my body in the position the bike needs all the time but you know, still I cannot believe I am here today.”

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont