Dani Pedrosa returned to the track 12 days after a punt-off from Zarco left him with a fractured right wrist – he underwent surgery directly after returning from Argentina – but the Repsol Honda rider remains a doubtful prospect for the race.

One problem is the high physical stress at the circuit, including the multiple changes of direction in the early part of the lap, and severe braking from more than 335 km/h to less than 60 km/h at the end of the very long straight.

He placed 21st in the morning, and pledged to try again in the afternoon, with a fresh dose of painkillers.

“Honestly, this first ‘test’ has been quite difficult,” he said. “This is a tough track, and I’m struggling a lot doing almost everything here, especially in changes of direction and on braking. The pain is what I expected, but I hoped to have more strength.

“The condition of the asphalt doesn’t help,” he continued, “as there’s no grip and the surface is quite dusty. The work they did didn’t helped with the bumps, and it lowered the grip.”

By Michael Scott

Photos GnG