Espargaro in ‘better situation than expected’ after injury diagnosis

Aleix Espargaro has revealed a micro-fracture to his femur and an injury to his left tibia as the outcome from his bruising collision with Aprilia Racing team-mate Bradley Smith during the Catalunya MotoGP.

The Spaniard was struck hard on the left-side after Smith – riding a third RS-GP entry in preparation for today’s MotoGP test – got it wrong under braking and crashed at Turn 10 on lap one.

Though Espargaro stayed on his bike and made it back to the pit-box, he had to be helped off the machine and was transferred to hospital for further checks.

This has now concluded with Espargaro confirming he has suffered fractures but escaped any ligament damage, which could have potentially resulted in longer-term ramifications.

For now, Espargaro - who returned to the Aprilia pit box and was seeing talking with Smith - is focusing on his recovery in an effort to get back on the bike for Round 8, the Assen TT.

"I'm relieved since the medical check-up showed a better situation than we had initially expected. In any case, I'm sorry to have missed this day of testing.

“My goal is to begin recovery as soon as possible and speed up my return to the saddle, compatibly with the feedback from the doctors. They told me that in a couple days I’ll be able to get back to cycling and I’m counting down the hours!”