Nicky Hayden thought he had escaped surgery after breaking his shoulder when he crashed during a pre-season training accident at the end of December, instead after experiencing some serious shoulder pain during the three day test at Sepang that hampered his testing of the new Ducati GP12, the American rider decided to check out his condition and flew directly to Fremont, California, for a thorough examination at Doctor Arthur Ting’s clinic.
There, tests revealed damage to cartilage in the American’s shoulder, as well as to muscles in his back.
Tomorrow the Ducati Team rider will undergo an operation in order to have his condition evaluated more thoroughly, and to treat his injuries.
“Of course another operation before the season is never a good thing,” Hayden said, “but I’m actually happy that I tried to ride at Malaysia, because it helped me to discover that the problem with the shoulder was bigger than we thought.
After seeing the scans, it was clear why I couldn’t ride well.
Setbacks are a part of life and a part of MotoGP, so we’ll deal with it and do everything possible to get back on the bike in good condition as soon as possible.
Ducati and the team are putting maximum effort into this championship, and that helps me to keep my spirits high and to be confident heading into the season.
” Having to undergo surgery will mean that Hayden will not be able to be present at Jerez in two weeks time for a Ducati private test.
The next official MotoGP test is scheduled from February 28th to March 1st at Sepang.
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