Pedrosa: Simoncelli threw my championship away
Dani Pedrosa believes his 2011 MotoGP World Championship hopes are over, following the broken right collarbone he sustained in a clash with Marco Simoncelli at Le Mans.
2010 title runner-up Pedrosa has been absent since last month's French Grand Prix fall, having skipped last weekend's Catalunya round. He will not try to ride in this weekend's British event at Silverstone.
"I'm trying to recover as fast as I can," the Repsol Honda rider told MotoGP.com. "Obviously it's not the fastest recovery I've had.... I have to stay clam for a while. I'm feeling better but unable to race yet.
"We have to check week-by-week. To say now when I will come back is unknown. I would like to be fully fit when I come back, because that guarantees me the option to win races.
"I missed the race in Barcelona, which is something very special for me, also I missed the chance of winning the title this year when I had a really good package and the bike was working so well."
Fellow factory Honda rider Simoncelli received a ride-though penalty for his part in the Le Mans accident, which occurred when he turned across the front of Pedrosa as they battled for second.
The Spaniard's front-wheel clipped the side of Simoncelli's bike, sending him to the ground. Not all agreed that Simoncelli was purely to blame, although the Italian has since stated he should have waited for a better chance to pass.
Pedrosa is still angry at the move, from a rider who had previously been criticised for his aggressive style.
"In my opinion it is hard to see how the Race Direction [did not do something sooner] because it's something I would really [punish] from the beginning," said Pedrosa.
"In the first occasion I would really do a strong, severe decision to make sure these things cannot happen anymore. But they have another policy. They decide for us.
"In my situation somebody threw my championship away. It's hard to swallow, but it's something I have to accept."
Pedrosa had only just recovered from complications caused by a broken left collarbone in practice for last October's Japanese MotoGP, winning at Estoril in his first race back after surgery. Then came Le Mans...
Pedrosa - now fourth in the championship and 37 points from the top - will not be replaced this weekend.
Round seven of the world championship, which is shaping up to be a fight between Pedrosa's team-mate Casey Stoner and Yamaha's reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo, takes place at Assen, on June 25.
