Photo: motogp.com
Aleix Espargaro will undergo surgery in Barcelona today, as the doctors found a rupture in one of his right-hand ligaments. The opt Suzuki Ecstar rider took a very hard fall in FP3 at Le Mans last weekend. Espargaro high-sided at a very high speed atop a small climb and was thrown off his bike, sliding tens of meters across the grass and stopping in the middle of the race track.
Fortunately, the other riders behind him had time to slow down, and he made it to the gravel trap, visibly shaken. The elder of the Espargaro brothers subsequently retired form the race and headed to Barcelona to be examined by Dr. Xavier Mir at the Clinica Dexeus.
Ultrasound and X-ray investigations revealed a "rupture in the ulnar collateral ligament of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the right thumb." Dr. Mir said that the injury demanded a surgical repair and scheduled the surgery for today, to fix the joint stability issue caused by the ligament damage.
The doctors will examine Aleix Espargaro's hand tomorrow, after he will have spent the night in the hospital and assess the estimated healing time. The main objective is to have Espargaro up and running for the Italian round at Mugello at the end of the month.
This is Stoner's brief and polite message for the Borgo Panigale team, but people have already interpreted it as a disguised innuendo letting Ducati know he is allegedly considering them as a new team.
With so many people looking forward to seeing Stoner return to MotoGP, such rumors are natural, even though judging by his repeated denials, this is only wishful thinking.
Before Gigi Dall'Igna engineered the current bike that put Ducati back in the game at the top of the time sheets, Stoner has been the only one that knew how to make the Italian motorcycle work... and he also won a world title with it.
Succeeding where so many others failed certainly earned Stoner a special place in Ducati's heart, but from this to making a return with the Team Red the road is rather too long. Dovizioso is third in the current standings, while his teammate Iannone is fifth, and both have demonstrated exceptional riding skills once Dall'Igna delivered the new bikes.
Replacing one of these fellows who have decided to stay with Ducati even when the going was tough would be a nasty way to reward the work and efforts they made during the last years.
Still, we would like to see Stoner back on the track, like we said a couple thousands of times already, but we're just not as excited about his recent tweet as this Italian guy.
Ultrasound and X-ray investigations revealed a "rupture in the ulnar collateral ligament of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the right thumb." Dr. Mir said that the injury demanded a surgical repair and scheduled the surgery for today, to fix the joint stability issue caused by the ligament damage.
The doctors will examine Aleix Espargaro's hand tomorrow, after he will have spent the night in the hospital and assess the estimated healing time. The main objective is to have Espargaro up and running for the Italian round at Mugello at the end of the month.
Casey Stoner congratulates Ducati via Twitter, the rumor mill craze starts over
It's funny how certain people seem to find hidden meanings in the most common social media moves. The last thing that got the rumor mill started again is one of Casey Stoner's recent tweets. He congratulated Ducati's two factory riders for their results at Le Mans last weekend, but it looks like this was more than enough to set the imagination of certain people free.Happy the guys/girls @DucatiMotor are getting some reward for their effort, nice seeing @AndreaDovizioso @andreaiannone29 up the sharp end!
— Casey Stoner (@Official_CS27) May 18, 2015This is Stoner's brief and polite message for the Borgo Panigale team, but people have already interpreted it as a disguised innuendo letting Ducati know he is allegedly considering them as a new team.
With so many people looking forward to seeing Stoner return to MotoGP, such rumors are natural, even though judging by his repeated denials, this is only wishful thinking.
Before Gigi Dall'Igna engineered the current bike that put Ducati back in the game at the top of the time sheets, Stoner has been the only one that knew how to make the Italian motorcycle work... and he also won a world title with it.
Succeeding where so many others failed certainly earned Stoner a special place in Ducati's heart, but from this to making a return with the Team Red the road is rather too long. Dovizioso is third in the current standings, while his teammate Iannone is fifth, and both have demonstrated exceptional riding skills once Dall'Igna delivered the new bikes.
Replacing one of these fellows who have decided to stay with Ducati even when the going was tough would be a nasty way to reward the work and efforts they made during the last years.
Still, we would like to see Stoner back on the track, like we said a couple thousands of times already, but we're just not as excited about his recent tweet as this Italian guy.
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