MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 1 / JULY 17-19, 2020
CIRCUITO DE JEREZ – ÁNGEL NIETO / JEREZ, SPAIN
P58
plate attached to the collarbone
by six screws. "I called my doctor
straight away and he prepared the
operation for the same night," he
explained. "To make the surgery on
it immediately is very good for the
bone. The day after the surgery I
could move my arm and they knew
whether it was good to push or to
stop moving my shoulder. If I had
taken a week to move this it would
have meant that I would lose a lot of
muscle in the shoulder."
RINS' TITLE HOPES
ON HOLD
The first race had yet to get under-
way and one of the title favorites was
already contemplating what could
have been. Suzuki's Alex Rins was
chasing a place on the front row in
the final minute of Q2 when he lost
the front at the fearsomely fast Turn
11. "I tried to recover but couldn't,
so I entered the gravel trap at high
speed and decided to drop the bike
to avoid arriving at the barriers," he
explained. Problem was the Span-
iard was traveling at close to 100
mph when he dismounted. An ugly
roll through the gravel followed, with
one somersault dislocating his right
shoulder and fracturing the top of his
humerus bone. After being sedated
at the track, the 24-year old's injuries
were confirmed at the Jerez hospital.
Rins retained the hope of competing
on Sunday, but it proved fruitless.
The chances of Rins being anywhere
near full fitness for any of the first five
races are slim.
ROSSI DEAL CLOSE
Valentino Rossi and Petronas SRT
Yamaha are close to a deal for 2021
but have yet to agree on the person-
nel of what will be Rossi's team. It's
understood the Italian is hopeful of
bringing as many as 20 faces with
him from the factory team to the sat-
ellite outfit, just as he did when mov-
ing from Honda to Yamaha (at the
end of 2003) and from Yamaha to
Ducati (at the end of 2010). Petronas
management isn't so keen on this ap-
Briefly...
Luca Marini (10) rode a classy Moto2 race to fend off round-one winner Tetsuta Nagashima (45). The Italian had
claimed fourth in qualifying on Saturday but focused on race setup versus one-lap pace, riding a controlled race to
hoist himself into third in the standings at 25 points with Nagashima sitting pretty up top on 45.
