Even a month after his Spielberg crash, Fabio Di Giannantonio is still having problems with his left shoulder – a break and an operation are not out of the question
Fabio Di Giannantonio dislocated his left shoulder in a crash during Friday practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. After initial treatment at the medical center, the Italian was taken to hospital. The following day, Di Giannantonio was back in the paddock, albeit with an arm sling to stabilize his left shoulder.
Nevertheless, the VR46 Ducati rider only had to miss the rest of the Spielberg weekend. He then finished eighth at Aragon and ninth at Misano. And that despite the fact that he had considered skipping the Grand Prix after the Misano sprint.
Di Giannantonio sustained his shoulder injury on August 16. A month has passed since then and the injury is still not healed. At the start of the second Misano weekend, the Italian described the situation on Thursday (September 19).
“I had hoped that I would be in better shape here, that the shoulder would be at least 80 percent recovered. But I’m still a long way from that. The shoulder is getting better, but unfortunately this process is very, very slow.“
”Every day I do two hours of physiotherapy and two hours in the gym just on the shoulder,” Diggia describes. ”There are also special machines for it. We are really trying everything, but unfortunately the shoulder is not yet healed.”
Since the recovery is slow, would surgery be an option? Has there been any discussion with VR46 about skipping overseas races to recover in peace and get fit for the upcoming season?
“We are monitoring the shoulder closely because at the moment we are not sure if surgery is necessary,“ says Di Giannantonio. ‘We also want to wait and see if I can build good muscle mass in the shoulder when it recovers.’
”But even if the shoulder has fully recovered, it will never be the same again. From a physical point of view, it’s not a fantastic time, but we’re trying everything. We are monitoring everything closely at the moment to make sure we have all the options on the table.”
With Misano 2, the next home race for Di Giannantonio and the VR46 team is on the program this weekend. After that, the long overseas tour begins with five race weekends in Asia.
“I guess,” Di Giannantonio looks ahead, ‘the next three race weekends, including this one, will be very hard for me. I have to grit my teeth and keep going. That’s just the way it is.’ He is currently in eighth place in the drivers’ championship.
