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Ducati Loses Open Class Concessions, Bradl Undergoes Surgery

Starting with the 2016 MotoGP season, Ducati will lose the current concessions granted by the premier class regulations. This means that starting from the next year, Ducati will race according to the same rules that apply now to full-factory teams, such as Honda and Yamaha.
Dovizioso will run in 2016 under the same rules as Honda and Yamaha 1 photo
Photo: motogp.com
The former rules required that a dry race was won prior to losing the concessions, but the teams reached an agreement about a concession points system. A team earning six concession points would lose the benefits for the next season. At the same time, if the competitiveness of a factory team drops below a certain level, concessions are applied for the next season.

With everybody on the grid agreeing with the system, the GPC preferred to make the decision concerning Ducati earlier, so that the team can prepare for 2016.

Under the full-factory rules, Ducati will carry the same amount of fuel as the teams mentioned and the same tire allocation, with the softer option removed. Borgo Panigale will no longer be able to develop the engines during the season, and testing with the factory riders will be limited to the official tests and five days of private testing.

Test riders outings will be, however free, limited only by the two-week span ahead of a GP race to be held at the circuit where the test is supposed to take place. Also, from 2016, all the bikes on the grid will carry 22 liters of fuel in a race, and run with the same ECU and software.

Teams that retain the concessions will enjoy 12 engines per year, will not have their engine development frozen and can test as much as they please within the tire allocation limit for this purpose.

As a new rule, factory bikes must have identical specs, whereas the satellite teams can run different-specification bikes.

Stefan Bradl undergoes surgery for his fractured scaphoid bone

Athina Forward Racing's Stefan Bradl undergone an X-ray investigation at the Clinica Mobile yesterday after he crashed in the Dutch GP at Assen. The 25-year-old rider lost control of the bike in Turn 11 and crashed, fracturing the scaphoid bone in his right wrist.

The X-rays showed a clean fracture without complications, and he flew to his native town Augsburg to undergo a fracture reduction surgery. Dr. Stefan Krischak, a hand specialist surgeon will operate on him and Bradl will soon begin the recovery.

“Too bad, my race ended earlier than expected when I was leading the Open class and I was close to the points zone. I lost the rear and I could not do anything to prevent the fall. Unfortunately I broke my right scaphoid in the impact and I propably will have to undergo surgery to reduce the fracture,” Bradl tells motogp.com.

His injury couldn't come at a worse time, as the next round is Bradl's home race, in Germany at Sachsenring. No updates on his condition have arrived at the time of writing, so it's a bit too early to rule him out of the German GP.
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