Dani Pedrosa is to seek urgent treatment for a severe arm pump problem. After the race at Qatar, in which Pedrosa could manage just a sixth place, the Spaniard revealed that he has been suffering with severe arm pump for the past year, which has badly affected his results.
Pedrosa spoke to a lot of specialists over the winter, all of whom suggested avoiding surgery, as the Spaniard has already had surgery to try to fix the problem last year, which has not proved successful.
The less aggressive treatment he tried over the winter has failed to solve the problems, which arose immediately during the very first race. Pedrosa will now try to find another solution to this problem, and will seek further medical advice on treatment.
His main priority, he told the media, was to fix the problem with arm pump, before trying to race again.
Though Pedrosa did not give a straight answer, his immediate future is not clear. Whether he will race at Austin is uncertain, and whether he could miss more than one race is equally unknown.
It seems likely, given Pedrosa’s history with the problem, that he could miss part of the season. If he does miss any races, it is unknown at this time who Honda might select to take his place.
The most likely candidate will be either HRC’s official test rider, Hiroshi Aoyama, or someone from a satellite or Open Honda team.
Aoyama is the most likely candidate, as he raced until the end of last year. Although Casey Stoner is officially a HRC test rider, he has made it amply clear that he has no desire to race in MotoGP.
In the post-race press release, Pedrosa was quoted as saying the following:
“Tonight’s race didn’t go to plan and unfortunately, I had serious problems with my right forearm which isn’t good news for me. I worked very hard over the winter in order to find a solution, because I was suffering in every race last season.”
“Every doctor recommended that I not undergo another operation and I have tried to look for alternatives, but by the looks of things nothing is working positively for it. Now I have to assess my options and see what I can do. It is probably the most difficult moment of my career. I will do my best to find a solution but in this moment it is difficult to imagine what it could be.”
Source: HRC; Photo: © 2015 Tony Goldsmith / www.tonygoldsmith.net – All Rights Reserved
This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.
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