Dani Pedrosa will miss the upcoming Grands Prix in the United States and Argentina after confirming that his injured right arm will require further surgery. The Spaniard has been riding through the pain for the best part of a year but despite finishing sixth in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, Pedrosa has decided that enough is enough.
Having seen specialists in Spain on Monday to discuss his arm pump problem, the decision was taken to undergo surgery, which Dr. Angel Villamor will carry out on Friday. Although the recovery time will see him miss at least two races, Pedrosa says he has been left with no other option for the good of his career.
“Obviously this isn’t the news I wanted to be sharing with everyone. However, after speaking with some key doctors and medical professionals that I trust, they are all in agreement that this is the only option for me. We will have the surgery on Friday and they will use a special technique to help close the wound to try and prevent this issue continuing to affect me. Let’s hope it’s a success. I want to thank all my fans for their support, but especially Honda, Repsol, Red Bull and all our sponsors for their understanding in this matter.”
Pedrosa’s place at Repsol Honda will be taken by official HRC test rider Hiroshi Aoyama, the 2009 250cc world champion and competitor in 64 MotoGP races.