Aleix Espargaro tries to race despite broken hand!

May 29 Aleix Espargaro He has the words “Capitano” and “17-24” tattooed in Roman numerals on his right forearm, the period for which he is the basis of Aprilia’s MotoGP project. By that time, the man from Granollers was preparing a speech to the press the following day to announce his retirement at the end of the season. And at that Catalan Grand Prix, there were already rumours that Aleix had received a firm offer from HRC to become a tester from 2025, which became official on Tuesday this week.

Assen is a favourite circuit for Aleix, where he has always had good results, but it has also been a nightmare of unwanted injuries for him: he crashed during practice on Friday, sustaining a heavy blow that only resulted in a bruise, and then crashed again during practice on Saturday. While trying to place fifth in the sprint race, he suffered a bad fall and broke his pinky finger. Right hand, accelerator and brake.

He will present to the championship medical officer this Thursday, who will give him the OK to take part in FP1, after which he will be examined again to decide whether he will be given the OK to take part in the remainder of the German Grand Prix. Considering he is 12 Grands Prix away from retirement and has nothing to prove, many are wondering whether he should race this weekend with a broken hand, but Aleix is ​​very clear about that.

“Well, it’s a matter of respect and loyalty, so that’s my job. What can I do while watching him on the couch at home? I have to try. After that I have three weeks off to recover. Most importantly, the doctors told me: “The fracture cannot be moved and it can’t get worse. They believe that it is impossible for me to steer with a broken hand and that it is only a matter of pain. So I’m going to try everything.”

This is how he tries to run: “I made myself a special glove, let’s try to do something with the gas lever. I can’t close my hand well, but here it is, the Sachsenring, a hard right-braking corner. I’ll try. In addition, Savadori was also injured and couldn’t take my place, so for the sake of the whole team, I’m here, I’m going to try tomorrow, and we’ll see.”

The main problem is the pain. After all, I have a broken hand, so if I can close my hand I can hold the handlebars, but the problem is riding at the highest level of MotoGP, the strength, the acceleration, the braking. That’s the problem, my hand hurts a lot. Also, from this year they banned Tramadol, which was widely used as a very strong painkiller. It’s forbidden to get it. “It’s going to be very complicated, but let’s try.”

“I believe that if I endure the pain I can ride safely. The question is how much I can handle and how fast I can go. But if I can ride the bike I’ll be fine.” “I don’t make silly lines, I don’t brake ahead of time.” “If that happened I wouldn’t race,” he explained to the Spanish group at Sachsenring.