Dani Pedrosa is confident he is on his way to full fitness as the Repsol Honda rider prepares for the team's home race in the FIM MotoGP World Championship.
Pedrosa is still recovering from surgery and does not have full movement in his leg and knee as he bids to keep pace with championship leader Casey Stoner at Motegi in Japan. Pedrosa finished 11th in the opening race in Qatar and has been encouraged by the progress he has made as he works his way towards full fitness.
Pedrosa said: "I'm looking forward to this weekend in Japan. My leg is improving all the time and the knee is gaining a little bit more mobility every day.
"I don't have full range of movement yet, but I think that by the time we get to Motegi I'll have about 10 degrees more of movement than in Qatar, which should make quite a big difference."
Pedrosa's Qatar race was marked by a mid-race collision with Alex De Angelis which left the Spaniard with an elbow injury.
"My elbow is getting better after the hit De Angelis gave me in Qatar - there's still some pain and stiffness but I hope it won't be a problem in Japan.
"My priority is still to reach full fitness so that I can ride at 100 per cent, and then we must focus on the machine because I missed out on quite a lot of winter testing and we're still not at the level we'd like to be."
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Pedrosa on way to fitness
