The sport is alive and well when the athletes will take to the sporting field with an injury that would leave a normal person unable to walk let alone compete at an international level, but that is what 20 year old Dani Pedrosa did on the weekend at Sepang, Malaysia in round 13 of 2006 Motogp.

Pedrosa clipped a curb in Fridays practice and sustained a deep cut to his knee which required 4 stitches and two broken toes on his left foot. It was undecided if he would race on Sunday until the final minutes before the race when it was decided he would go ahead.


Starting at 5th on the grid, Pedrosa made a surprising start to the race, taking the lead by turn one! This was not to last too long though as Valentino Rossi ,who started on pole, and fellow Italian rider, Loris Capirossi came storming past to pull a huge gap on the rest of the field.

Capirossi took the early lead but soon surrendered it to Rossi before the two spent the remainder of the race dicing between themselves before the last lap showdown that saw Rossi came storming past to take the chequers.

Pedrosa crossed the line in third after a race that saw him hardly challenged for the last podium spot. US rider Nicky Hayden finished in 4th and has now greatly reduced his points lead over Pedrosa to 22 points and Rossi now 26 points.

Fifth place to Sete Gibernau on his comeback ride after a nasty collarbone injury and sixth to John Hopkins who had a horrible start and was eleventh after lap one.

The next round sees the Motogp boys heading to the gorgeous Phillip Island Circuit in Victoria, Australia.

Rossi took out this race last year and is sure to be among the favourites to take out the win.