Fabio Di Giannantonio dislocated his left shoulder during the MotoGP Austrian GP, causing him to miss the races in Spielberg. Last weekend he competed in the Aragon GP and finished seventh, but the Pertamina Enduro VR46 rider continues to face significant physical issues due to the injury.
In a press conference, the Italian provided an update on his physical condition: ‘Let’s say that at the moment I think I’m at 60% physically and I think it will take a long time honestly, because the shoulder is a really critical place to get injured because whatever you do, you have to work with the arm – especially riding. So it’s not good, and to make two races in a row is not great’.
Although he hopes for improvements by the second round in Misano, Di Giannantonio is aware that the problem could potentially follow him, possibly forever: ‘I think in Misano 2 I will be maybe at 80%, I hope. But it’s also true that from now until the end of the season – or even forever honestly – any crash I have, it’s 80% likely that I can get the shoulder dislocated again. So at the moment is quite critical and we have to work around this problem, but we will see’.
According to the rider, it’s possible that he might need surgery after the season ends: ‘We will get this shoulder monitored until the end of the season, and then at the end of the season we will see if I have to get the surgery or whatever’.
Even with physical limitations, Di Giannantonio remains confident in his ability to fight for top positions: ‘I think our package is quite strong even if I’m not at 100%, so if we find just two or three things that seems that Marc [Márquez] found in Aragon to try to turn better the bike, I think we can be on the pack to fight for the podium’.