Johann Zarco did not come away completely unhurt by the massive crash he had with Franco Morbidelli in the Austrian MotoGP race at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday.
Scans made on Monday revealed that the Frenchman had suffered a fractured scaphoid in his right wrist in the crash.
The Frenchman is to travel to Modena in Italy to have surgery on the scaphoid, before returning to Spielberg to attempt to ride in the Styrian Grand Prix, the second race at the Red Bull Ring to be held this weekend.
The surgery is to be carried out by the same team who plated Andrea Dovizioso’s collarbone when the Italian broke it in an MX accident a couple of weeks before the season started.
The medical regulations mean that Zarco would have to wait for at least 48 hours after surgery before he is allowed to participate, meaning that the Frenchman would be forced to miss at least part of practice on Friday, depending on what time surgery is performed on Wednesday. He will also have to undergo a fitness test on Thursday before he is allowed to ride.
Zarco will also have to face the FIM Stewards at the Red Bull Ring. He and Franco Morbidelli have been called in front of Freddie Spencer and the FIM Stewards to explain the crash at Turn 2 at the Red Bull Ring. Morbidelli accused Zarco of deliberately braking in front of him and causing the crash, while Zarco claims that he braked later than normal on that lap.
“On Monday I did some controls on my right wrist because it was still some pain, and I got a little fracture on the scaphoid,” said Zarco. “I will go to Italy to do the operation on Wednesday morning, with a doctor that has very good contact with Ducati, this is the doctor that many times operates riders.”
“Then we will come back to Austria, and I will be on Thursday at the track to have a meeting about the big incident that happened on Sunday. If the feeling is OK on the wrist and the medical center declares me fit to ride I will try and see if I can ride the bike.”
“The advantage this weekend is we already have all the references from the week before, so this is not a big drama if I miss few sessions and I can take one more day to feel if my wrist is ok. Now, the main thing is the operation, and after that see if my feeling improves.”
“The team is working on the bike to prepare it, and I know everything will be ready if I come back on the bike. Maybe there will be some rain, so also this is a chance because on the rain we have less effort on the bike and for me will be really a good chance with the rain if I can race without much effort on the wrist.”
Source: Avintia Ducati
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