Spaniard Dani Pedrosa suffered arm-pump while contending for the lead at Qatar on Sunday.

A crushing third place in Sunday’s opening MotoGP World Championship round at Qatar has Dani Pedrosa looking for answers following a serious bout of ‘arm-pump’.

The talented Repsol Honda rider was the only man to challenge teammate Casey Stoner throughout the weekend, leading the middle stages of the race before cramping of his left arm dashed his hopes of battling for victory.

“I’m disappointed, not for the race I had, but for the physical problems I had again with my left arm,” Pedrosa said after finishing third behind Stoner and fellow Spanish star Jorge Lorenzo.

“Already in practice I felt something, but I was not sure if it could be that bad, at the end I couldn’t grab the handlebar and in the last 7-8 laps I couldn’t use the clutch at all. I was just holding the arm and I was suffering a lot.

“The bike was perfect all race, I had the chance to win but I had a very hard time, one of the toughest races of my life. I don’t know what can I do because should be okay after the rest I had this winter. I did the tests and everything was in order.

“In the winter tests I was a bit weak, but I felt alright, so I don’t know what we have to do. I feel sorry for my team as well, because the bike was very good, fast, perfect also in the corners.”

Pedrosa’s now in a race against time find a quick fix ahead of round two at Jerez in Spain on 1-3 April, and he’s concerned that the problem could arise again at his home round.

“I’m proud of how I’ve been riding, I’ve been fighting with Casey in this circuit as nobody else did in the past but at the same time I feel sad because I don’t know what the future will bring,” he admitted.

“I know we will go to Jerez in two weeks, where the bike will run very well, and I’m very strong and fast, but I don’t know what will happen.”