Pedrosa sidelined after surgery

Pedrosa recently signed a new two-year deal with Honda

Dani Pedrosa could miss vital testing ahead of the new MotoGP season after undergoing surgery on a broken hand.

The Repsol Honda rider crashed during testing at Sepang in Malaysia on Tuesday and flew back to Spain for surgery the following day.

"The timescale for a return is unknown. In many cases the capacity for recovery of elite sportsmen is surprising," said surgeon Dr Xavier Mir.

"The majority of cases require a minimum of six weeks."

If he were out for that long, the 22-year-old would miss further test sessions in Australia, Malaysia and the official test at Jerez in Spain.

606: DEBATE How do you rate Pedrosa's chances this season?

The first race of the 2008 season is in Qatar, under floodlights, on 9 March.

Pedrosa has come up through the ranks with Honda, having won the 250cc world title in 2004 and 2005 before moving to MotoGP.

He finished second on his MotoGP debut in Jerez in 2006, and went on to win two races that season, before finishing third overall.

He followed it up with a second-place finish in the 2007 championship.