Pedersen shakes off injury fears

Pedersen suffered a broken forearm at the Swedish SGP semi-finals at the start of May but will not allow the blow to prevent him from taking part in the weekend's event.

“I will 100 per cent turn up in Prague," said Pedersen. "I will do the practice on Friday, although it might not be a full session. I might want to keep a bit of strength for the day after.

“It’s important for me to stay in the campaign to become world champion. Without riding down there and getting points on my account, I can’t see it’s going to happen."

Meanwhile, reigning champion Chris Holder is relaxed about his hopes of reining in leader Tomasz Gollob, who leads the Australian by seven points heading into the weekend.

“You don’t have to get too caught up in it all just yet," he said. "As long as you’re in that top half with the points and close to the top guy, that’s great. There’s seven points between the top six.

“That’s nothing with nine Grand Prix races to go. You’re in a good place and you want to get as many points as you can.”