Successful surgery for Espargaro ahead of MotoGP season start

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro has undergone surgery on his right arm less than a fortnight before the first race of 2023’s MotoGP season.

While a Saturday crash during the final pre-season test at Portimao brought the Argentine race winner down at turn one, Espargaro admitted a battle with arm-pump last weekend was his biggest concern.

“The crash was not huge but then I felt like the curve on my left foot and the impact was quite hard,” Espargaro said on Saturday evening. “I have quite a lot of pain now because it’s the ankle that I damage on my crash in Silverstone, but it’s not a disaster.

“I have more problems in the afternoon with the right arm. I had a lot of arm pump and I had to really stop one hour before than the plan because I couldn’t even brake so it’s strange that this happened. I didn’t have problems in Malaysia so hopefully tomorrow will be better.”

The problems, however, continued across the final day with the 33-year-old Spaniard calling time early on his closing day’s action. Dispatched to Barcelona on Monday for medical intervention on an expected fibrosis issue, he was sent under the knife on Tuesday.

“Surgery done!” Espargaro confirmed via social media on Tuesday afternoon from the Dexeus University Hospital in Barcelona. “I had a lot of pressure in my forearm, so everything is released and ready to race!”