Armpump surgery for Bagnaia: Problems of the current Ducati as the cause

– Two riders from the VR46 Academy returned after the summer break at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone following operations. Marco Bezzecchi had broken his left collarbone in his crash during qualifying at the Sachsenring and was already operated on Sunday while his MotoGP colleagues were racing the Grand Prix in Germany.

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Surprisingly, Francesco Bagnaia also underwent an operation. On July 15, three days after the Sachsenring race, the Ducati team announced that he had undergone a successful endoscopic fasciotomy on his right forearm.

The procedure was performed by the medical team led by Professor Luigi Tarallo at the orthopedic clinic of the Policlinico di Modena, headed by Professor Fabio Catani, and was successful and without complications.

The procedure was intended to treat compartment syndrome, known in the motorcycle scene as “arm pump.” According to Bagnaia, he had never experienced such complaints in his career before.

“Well, I never had a problem with my arms in my entire career, never,” Bagnaia confirmed at the start of the race weekend in Silverstone. “This year, with some problems with our motorcycle, I had to…”

He finally goes into detail: “I first had the problem in Jerez when I had to stop. At that time, it was not because of the arm but due to another problem.”

“Every time we didn’t solve this problem, my arm became more and more inflamed, so I had to have it done.” Bagnaia explains why he never mentioned it before by saying he “doesn’t like to say such things on camera.”

Most MotoGP riders have already undergone arm pump surgery. The VR46 Academy riders were the exception. Only Celestino Vietti (Moto2) had been operated on before, and now Bagnaia has joined them.

He also gives the reason why he suddenly had problems this year: “Riding this year is really intense. It has to do with the motorcycle, yes,” Bagnaia confirms.

When asked if this was related to the front-end problems, he nodded. The operation, as confirmed by Ducati, went well. Afterwards, Bagnaia had to work hard during the summer break to be ready for Silverstone.

“It was not an easy summer break. I had to work a lot on my arm because I think it affected me less, but it was quite a tough operation.”

“I had to work a lot. I only had four days of rest, and every day in the gym was intense. But I think we worked well, and I am almost ready to fight again. Let’s see.”

Preparation also included two track days with his Ducati Panigale in Misano: “Yes, I had two sessions. In the first, I couldn’t ride; I only did two laps and then stopped.”

“In the second, I rode 30 laps, and it was somewhat better; that was ten days ago. So I hope it continues to improve. Riding a MotoGP machine is completely different from riding a Panigale.”

“But I have to say that the Panigale is harder to brake because you have to apply more force,” said Bagnaia. “So let’s see, maybe I will take painkillers at first.”

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Bezzecchi trained with Aprilia RSV4 in Misano

After the operation on his left collarbone, Bezzecchi had to go to the hospital again during the summer break. On July 18, a wound on his left knee, which he also sustained in the Sachsenring crash, was cleaned.

Like Bagnaia, Bezzecchi was then able to train with a superbike in Misano. On July 29, he completed four runs with an Aprilia RSV4. Aprilia did not disclose the exact number of laps.

“I’m not doing too badly,” Bezzecchi said at the start of the Silverstone weekend. “Of course, it was a tough summer break, not the one I would have wished for.”

“Of course, I’m still not at one hundred percent. The shoulder doesn’t feel too bad, but my left knee was also injured, so we’ll see. I’m very happy to be here.”

The Italian received the start permission from the MotoGP doctors on Thursday. A year ago, Bezzecchi celebrated his first Grand Prix win for Aprilia in Silverstone. It was Aprilia’s second MotoGP win on this track.

What are the chances that he can repeat this success? “At the moment, unfortunately not very good. This track is, of course, very important to me; I like the layout.”

“Last year, I had a very good race, a very good weekend, but this year we come here with a different mindset, of course because of the situation, so I’m not really thinking much about performance yet.”

Bezzecchi: No world championship advice from Valentino Rossi

After three difficult race weekends, in which Bezzecchi only collected six world championship points, he has fallen back to fourth place in the championship standings. He is 22 points behind his teammate Jorge Martin.

“Yes, well, it’s true that it won’t be easy, especially right now, but yes, I will certainly try my best to at least be able to fight until the end.”

“Then we’ll see if I’m still in the world championship fight in the last rounds,” says Bezzecchi. “We are at mid-season, but half means it’s still very long.”

“So I want to try to make a decent comeback here in Silverstone, and then we’ll have a bit more time to fix the last details on my body. Then from Aragon on, it will certainly be a war.”

Because Aragon at the end of August marks the start of the decisive phase of the world championship. Did Bezzecchi also seek advice from his mentor Valentino Rossi during the summer break?

“Of course, I saw him, I talked to him, but honestly, we haven’t really talked much about the championship at the moment. My physical condition was the main topic.”

“So of course I talked to him, I was with him, and it’s always good to spend some time with him, but hopefully we will talk about the championship after I see how I feel on the motorcycle.”

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