Pedrosa to undergo surgery tomorrow, Aoyama to stand in

Dani Pedrosa has confirmed that he will undergo surgery for the arm pump issues that left him struggling in Qatar. The Spaniard, who has already had surgery twice on his right forearm, will go under the knife for the third time tomorrow Dr. Angel Villamo in Madrid.

Pedrosa’s previous surgeon, Dr. Mir, previously advised Pedrosa that another surgery would not be possible on the injury. However Livio Suppo, commercial manager for HRC, confirmed to MCN in Qatar that there was an additional ‘highly invasive surgery’ that was an option for Pedrosa. This surgery has only been performed on one other athlete and the results are sure to be of interest to other riders plagued by arm pump problems.

“Obviously this isn’t the news I wanted to be sharing with everyone,” said Pedrosa. “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.”

Pedrosa will be replaced by Hiroshi Aoyama, the factory test rider, for at least the next two races in Texas and Argentina.