De Puniet waiting on surgery after nightmare weekend
Added on Monday, July 19th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
De Puniet waiting on surgery after nightmare weekend
Randy de Puniet will go under the knife today in Germany after breaking a tibia and fibula at Sachsenring on Sunday.
The Frenchman was caught up in a crash with Aleix Espargaro and Alvaro Bautista which led to Sunday’s German Grand Prix being red-flagged after just nine laps.
He later failed to make it back onto the grid for the restarted race, instead going for X-rays which revealed the double fracture, an injury that could keep him out for several months.
The crash was the culmination of a nightmare weekend for the LCR Honda rider, who was fortunate to make the grid after crashing out of Saturday’s qualifying session, slipping on an oil spill from Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha before crashing into Ben Spies’ Tech 3 machine.
De Puniet was flown from the circuit to hospital in Hartmannsdorf with Doctor Claudio Costa, where he will this evening have surgery on his injured leg to insert a pin, before finding out how long he will be potentially be stuck on the sidelines for.
“It could not be worse than this!” said the 29 year-old. “I had a bad start from the third row but got back up to ninth and my race pace was pretty good. I was able to push for sixth place despite my painful ankle after yesterday’s qualifying crash.”
“Suddenly I crashed at the exit of turn four and a bike hit my left leg. I immediately knew it was serious and we then found out the true extent after the X-rays.”
LCR Honda are now searching for a replacement rider, with Roger Lee Hayden, brother to Ducati’s Nicky, reportedly approached to take De Puniet’s seat at Laguna Seca this weekend.
Hayden, currently with the Perdicini Kawasaki WSB team, is no stranger to MotoGP having finished 10th for Kawasaki during a wildcard ride at Laguna Seca in 2007.
