As the MotoGP season reaches its mid-point, injuries are starting to take their toll. Riders are being forced to miss races, and replacements have to be found.
The latest victim is Stefan Bradl. The German fell heavily during the race at Assen, fracturing the scaphoid in his right hand. Though he immediately drove home to Augsburg for surgery on the broken bone, the time between Assen and the Sachsenring has proven too short for Bradl to be fit for his home GP.
A broken scaphoid is always painful, and the right hand has a lot of stress to bear for a motorcycle racer. The pain has proven to be too substantial, and Bradl now has until 9th August to recover, when MotoGP heads to Indianapolis.
Bradl’s place will be taken in the Forward team by Claudio Corti. The Italian has experience both with the Forward team and in MotoGP, having ridden for Forward in 2013, when he raced the FTR Kawasaki. Experience with Bridgestone tires and carbon brake disks is always an issue for substitute riders.
Corti will not be the only replacement rider in Germany. Karel Abraham remains absent after suffering a severe foot injury at Barcelona.
Having missed the race at Assen, despite a last-ditch attempt to try to arrange coverage for Dutch World Superbike rider Michael van der Mark to replace him, the AB Motor Racing team are forced to field a substitute.
HRC test rider Hiroshi Aoyama, present at the Sachsenring for a Michelin tire test, which takes place today, is to sit in for Abraham.
Source: Forward Yamaha & Cardion AB; Photo: © 2015 Tony Goldsmith / www.tonygoldsmith.net – All Rights Reserved
This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.
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