Fabio Di Giannantonio has treatment on finger injury, VR46 outlines recovery time

The VR46 MotoGP team has confirmed that Fabio Di Giannantonio had treatment on the finger injury he sustained in the Alex Marquez incident at the Catalan Grand Prix.

The Italian was caught up in the horrifying collision between Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta during the main race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last month.

A wheel from Marquez’s crashing Gresini Ducati hit Fabio Di Giannantonio’s bike and sent him into a crash, with the VR46 rider picking up an injury to his finger.

He rode through it to win the Catalan Grand Prix after it was restarted.

Since then, he has raced with the finger on his left hand dressed and with his riding glove adapted to accommodate the injury.

VR46 says Di Giannantonio had treatment on the injury in hospital on Monday following the Hungarian Grand Prix and is expected to be able to participate in next week’s Czech round.

“Fabio Di Giannantonio was taken yesterday afternoon for a surgical dressing of the dermis on the fifth finger of his left hand at the UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Rome,” a brief statement from the team read.

“The procedure was performed by Dr. Ornelli with the aim of treating the injury sustained in the crash that occurred during the race in Barcelona.

“The recovery plan foresees that the rider of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will take part as normal in the Czech Republic Grand Prix next week.”

Di Giannantonio finished fifth at Mugello with the injury, and was 12th in Hungary after being taken down in the Turn 1 incident triggered by Jorge Martin’s crash.

The VR46 rider noted on Saturday at Balaton Park, following a fall in qualifying, that he has been avoiding keeping his hands on his bike during a crash for fear of worsening his finger injury.

“Mine was not stopped; it was still running. I was lucky,” he said about his Hungary qualifying crash, in reference to the new rule that states a rider cannot restart their bike on the track now.

“Honestly, with my finger at the moment, I would not risk to keep my hands on the bike if I crash.

“I don’t care. If I crash, I will take the bike and try to rejoin. But I think my finger is much more important.”

Di Giannantonio remains Ducati’s top rider in the standings after the first eight rounds.

He is currently 42 points down on Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi.

Di Giannantonio looks set to leave the Ducati fold at the end of the year, as he makes a move to the factory KTM team.