On his return to Europe from Malaysia, Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Pol Espargaro has undergone a medical check up at the Universitario Quiron Dexeus Hospital in Barcelona, where it was confirmed that he will not have surgery on his injured left foot.
The MotoGP rookie broke the second metatarsal in his left foot on Saturday in FP3 in Sepang and rode through the pain in Sunday’s race to a sixth place finish.
Having landed back in his native Barcelona, the Tech 3 man was checked again by Dr. Xavier Mir to confirm the status of the fractured bone, which was diagnosed on Saturday in Malaysia.
Dr. Mir explained, "I already saw Pol in Malaysia and saw there that he had a fracture in the second metatarsal, with some displacement. Sideways movement was bearable but not forward to backwards movement. In Barcelona we repeated the radiography after an epic race in which he finished sixth. I can’t understand how he endured the pain. But we’ve seen that the fracture hasn’t moved. It’s still in the correct position and this does rule out the requirement for surgery.”
Espargaro will now undergo therapy to reduce inflammation around the injury, with the bone expected to heal in four weeks. He will have another x-ray next Wednesday before racing at Valencia.
Dr. Mir added, “He will probably be uncomfortable with the injury at Valencia, especially as it’s his left foot which is used to change gears. But considering how well he did at Malaysia he should be fine at Valencia. We will continue to monitor the injury to ensure that no displacement occurs and at the Grand Prix we’ll evaluate whether he needs a painkilling injection. Ideally he wouldn’t need it but we’ll see how he is in practice.”
