Pramac’s Andrea Iannone underwent arm pump surgery yesterday afternoon in Barcelona at the famed Hospital Universitario Quirón Dexeus.

The Italian rider has been suffering from compartment syndrome in his right forearm since the first race of the season which has been hampering his riding, and after his crash during the Jerez GP where he also injured his knee, decided that it was time to go under the knife.

Dr. Xavier Mir, renowned Spanish surgeon to many motorcycle racers performed the surgery both on Iannone’s arm but also debrided Iannone’s left knee that he injured during the final free practice on Saturday.

The Italian rider’s presence at Le Mans will depend on how fast he will heal, but Iannone speaking the official website following his surgery said he wants to be at the French GP even if he isn’t completely 100% fit, in order to prepare for his home race at Mugello.

“Dr. Mir has assured me that everything is fine and that the problem was there and it was real. Everything went well and will be hard to know in what conditions I’ll be in for Le Mans but I’m going to be there. Before the operation I thought I’d 100% fit for the French GP, but Le Mans isn’t the perfect track to return to action with all those tight turns … but I want to be there to prepare for Mugello,” said Iannone.

Pramac’s Andrea Iannone and Ben Spies may be smiling in this picture at the 2013 Wrooom, but the two riders are still fighting to regain fitness ahead of the first official MotoGP test at Sepang early next month.

The MotoGP rookie revealed that following his nose operation for a deviated septum, a further medical further check-up revealed he also has been suffering from a cracked vertebra and the injury still doesn’t allow him to train properly. However he expects that in Malaysia to be in better shape, while team mate Ben Spies is in slightly worse physical conditions following the AC separation repair surgery he had to undergo late last October after crashing during a very wet Sepang race.

Normal recovery time for this type of surgery is from 8 to 12 weeks, but Spies recovery is taking longer than expected as he revealed during the Wrooom event as he sat out all the extracurricular activies, like skiing and snowboarding, because he still hasn’t built up enough muscle and strength in his shoulder and didn’t want to needlessly risk hurting himself.

“I didn’t think it would take so long and be so arduous, but we have to put up with it and still find a way to train, but I’m not in any pain. I’m currently at 60 to 70% fitness and hope to be at 80% for the first Sepang test so I’ll be able to to ride and do what I’m required to do. I’m not going to be reeling off qualifying laps and doing race simulations, but I’ll be fast enough to test and learn about the bike and the team, and maybe this situation will be even helpful, so I can study everything in detail, and then try to be ready for the second Sepang test,” commented Spies.

Continue reading: Ben Spies and Andrea Iannone fighting to regain fitness

Looking more like a Ducati Christmas card then an official unveiling, here are several more shots of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso with their GP13’s and the factory riders are joined by Ben Spies and Andrea Iannone with their Pramac machines under the snowy skies of Madonna di Campiglio, this evening.

Pramac Racing will be followed directly by Ducati and the satellite riders will have the same spec machines as the factory team, and Pramac’s livery is white and red (very similar to the one they had in 2009) and are also displaying a new main sponsor ‘Ignite Asset Management’.

Energy T.I (Trading International) yesterday announced that they will be sponsoring the Juventus Football club this season, but the Italian energy company that has been on the market since 2008, has also decided to make a foray into the world of racing and signed a sponsorship deal with Pramac Racing.

Energy T.I’s logo will appear on the fairings of Andrea Iannone’s Ducati GP13. Ben Spies will be Pramac’s second rider and he was forced to miss the final two races of the season and his debut on the Ducati during the Valencia test following his shoulder injury and subsequent surgery, apparently is not included in the agreement.

Hector Barbera will be returning to action in next weekend’s GP Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini at the Misano World Circuit, after missing the last three races due to two serious and consecutive injuries.

The Pramac rider suffered a fractured tibia and fibula in a training accident ahead of the Laguna Seca race, and after surgery and three weeks of rehabilitation tried to make a return for the Indianapolis GP, but a bad crash during the first free practice left him with two cracked vertebrae (D6 and D8) that forced him to skip the Brno round.

Barbera is currently undergoing physiotherapy at the Fisioreig Clinic in Barcelona, and has been given the green light by his doctors to return to racing and he’ll be back on track on Friday morning for the opening practice session and where he’ll probably find out that Ben Spies is expected to take his place in 2013.

Source | marca.com

Hector Barberaunderwent surgery today to fix his fractured left tibia and fibula in a training accident while he was riding a Honda CRF100.

The Spaniard who took his maiden front row start at Mugello just last week, had to have a titanium plate and screws inserted into his left leg and the surgery was performed by Dr. Xavier Mir at Barcelona’s Instituto Universitario USP Dexeus.

Dr. Mir has estimated that Barbera’s recovery period could be estimated between four to six weeks which will definitely rule him out of next week’s Laguna Seca round and the Indianapolis (August 19th) and Brno GPs (August 26th) could also be in doubt.

“The surgery had good results. We are confident that Héctor will be able to leave the hospital in 48 hours and can begin light physical activity in seven days. It is difficult to say how long the post surgery rehabilitation will take. We need to evaluate the progress of the patient, but I think that we can reasonably think that he will [be] able to run a race in 4 or 6 weeks, according to his feedback,” reported Dr. Mir.

“Doctor Mir and Doctor Jimeno have done a great job. I’m feeling quite good, still a dizzy from the anaesthesia, but it’s normal,” said Barbera talking from his hospital bed. “Obviously I’m disappointed about the incident. It happened in the worst period possible. I had a great feeling both with my bike and with my crew. In the last three races I was able to enjoy while I was riding and fighting with the Factory riders to achieve the best result possible. I could catch other brilliant results in the next round in Laguna Seca and Indy, but it’s life and now I have to think only about my injury and my rehabilitation.”

CEV Moto2 rider Kenny Noyes who currently races for PL Racing Moto2 was nominated Pramac Ducati’s replacement rider in case Barbera injured himself back in May, but it is unknown whether the team will call up the American or skip the first US round altogether as the team has three rounds before having to replace their rider.

Hector Barbera will be missing next weekend’s US GP at Laguna Seca after suffering a training accident yesterday.

Pramac Racing confirmed the news today and reported that the Spaniard suffered a fracture to his left tibia and fibula and will have to undergo surgery tomorrow at the Insitituto Universitario Deuxus in Barcellona.

The reknowned Dr. Xavier Mir will perform the surgery and then release details regarding the operation and Barbera’s expected recovery period, which is usually four to five weeks for a MotoGP rider.

It is unknown whether Pramac will decide to field at replacement rider for Laguna Seca.

.

Valentino Rossi isn’t the only unhappy Ducati rider on the grid. Hector Barbera is also deeply unhappy with the Bologna bike above all regarding the fact that he has an ‘old’ bike. The Pramac rider in a interview with Spanish website EFE that his GP12 is out-of-date and that his bike hasn’t received any updates except for an upgraded electronics package that he debuted at Silverstone last week.

“The problem is that we are still using the same chassis that Ducati gave us in November,” said Barbera. He is currently riding the GP12 Sat Zero that Rossi discarded during the Valencia tests last season. “Our bike is the same since November and we haven’t haven’t received any upgrades. I do well in qualifying because we’re on new tires and the situation is okay, but during the race we have to slow down because our rear tire wears out quickly . ”

Barbera’s contract is up at the end of the season and he has no idea where he’ll be going in 2013 and he puts the blame squarely on Dorna’s doorstop due to the constant rule changes. “They should tell us whether the grid will all CRTs or not, if BMW and Suzuki will be entering MotoGP, but riders are always the last to know anything and it will also be very important to see where Valentino Rossi is going.”

The Spaniard isn’t the only one unsure of his future, sponsor Pramac is in financial difficulties. The company that makes power generation equipment in Siena, Italy has a 100 million euro debt and is also taking a beating on the stock markets.

Ducati has been spending so much effort on making the GP12 work for their factory team, that they’ve forgetten their satellite teams, because Karel Abraham is also unhappy with his Cardion AB branded Ducati, and that may mean that Bologna manufacturer could find itself without any customers in MotoGP next season.

This weekend’s MotoGP starting grid at the Mugello GP will see only sixteen riders on track, as Loris Capirossi will be forced to miss this eighth race of the season due to the injuries he picked up in last week’s high side crash during the qualifying session at Assen.

A further medical check-up has confirmed that the veteran MotoGP rider who was initially reported as having sustained a dislocated right shoulder and injured rib cartilage, has now been diagnosed with fractures to his ninth and tenth ribs, which will rule him out of his home race for the first time in his career.

“I’m obviously very disappointed and angry. I was hoping I could do to get on track for this race, but the double fracture of the ninth and tenth ribs and distorting the AC joint injury forced me to raise the white flag for the first time in my career for Mugello,” stated a disappointed Capirossi. “I’m sorry for the many fans who will be at Mugello, the track to which they are emotionally closest. I have many fond memories of this track, I wanted to turn my season in this circuit. Now I will have to rest, sit still for at least two weeks and try to get back on track as soon as possible”.

Between Paris Hilton escorted aound the paddock and pitlane and her Tweets with “I love MotoGP”, Marco Simoncelli’s body guards in mufti (who had their ‘15 minutes of fame’ when they were shown to world on TV), the riders not wanting to go to Japan, the rumors why Dani Pedrosa didn’t race, why Colin Edwards wanted to, and other tidbits from the weekend’s races at Catalunya another rumor surfaced at Montmelò, but this was strictly more racing oriented.

Apparently Pramac Racing who has been running Ducati Desmosedici’s since 2005, is thinking of dropping the Italian manufacturer at the end of season and lease Honda’s new 2012 prototype, and the Tuscany based team is also thinking of down sizing the team to a sole rider, which won’t make Carmelo Ezpeleta jump for joy.

Both Randy de Puniet and Loris Capirossi have struggled so far this season with GP11 (as have the factory riders). But with Capirex seriously thinking of hanging up his lid at the end of the year (we should hear about his decision during the Mugello GP) putting de Puniet back on a Honda and concentrating all their efforts on just one rider, could be a step in the right direction towards improving their situation.

And Ducati? They probably won’t be wringing their hands over the loss, Aspar Martinez wants a second Ducati to field and it seems that the Cardion AB Motoracing team also wants another Ducati, because they too are thinking of expanding their team to a two rider effort.