WSBK: Davide Giugliano To Miss Remainder of the Season

2015 has not been kind to Davide Giugliano. The factory Ducati rider was already forced to miss the first four rounds of the season after fracturing two lumbar vertebrae in testing crash at Phillip Island, a week before the season began.

Now he will be forced to miss the remainder of the season, after scans revealed a fracture of the thoracic vertebra T3, sustained in a crash at Laguna Seca.

Giugliano crashed during Race 2 at Laguna Seca, cartwheeling spectacularly through the gravel at Turn 6, when a few spots of rain started to fall at the circuit.

Though he was initially only diagnosed with some heavy bruising, upon his return to Italy, the Aruba.it Ducati man decided to have another scan, in part to ensure that no further damage had been done to the vertebrae he injured back in February.

The scan turned up a fracture of a different vertebra, however, and Giugliano was told that the recovery period would be three months. That effectively put an end to his 2015 season, ruling him out of the remainder of the races.

With the Malaysian round of WSBK due to take place on August 2nd, there is not sufficient time to find a replacement for Giugliano. At the following round, on September 20th at Jerez, official Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will take the Italian’s place.

No decision has been taken on Giugliano’s replacement at the final two rounds of the year, at Magny-Cours and Qatar, but as they are both in October, there is time for Ducati to choose a rider.

“I am of course extremely disappointed right now… Clearly 2015 was not my season,” said Giugliano in press statement. “There is no point grieving over it anyway, that’s that and the important thing is that once again the trauma will not result in any long-term damage. It will take a bit more time, but I hope to recover quickly and be back riding my Panigale soon.”