Eugene Laverty suffers broken wrist at Jerez test
POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider crashes in turn seven during final hour of today’s session, fracturing his left radius
MotoGP and Superbike riders shared the track at Jerez again today as the final test of 2015 continued in the Spanish sunshine. The track surface took a little time to warm up, but the riders were soon able to start working on their new standard electronics packages for 2016, as well as the new Michelin tyres. A crash for Michele Pirro saw the red flag produced at around 4pm but once the Italian rider was out of danger the action was able to resume until the track closed at 6pm.
Unfortunately Pirro’s crash was not the last of the day. Around an hour later POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider Eugene Laverty lost the front in turn seven, injuring his left wrist. X-rays at a local hospital confirmed a break to his left radius, just by his wrist. Further examination also revealed a dislocated shoulder and blow to the head. This evening Eugene will be admitted to a hospital in Jerez for a CAT scan to check for any further injuries, before tomorrow flying from Seville to Barcelona and the Hospital Universitario Quirón Dexeus, where Dr. Xavier Mir and his medical team will conduct surgery to relocate and fix his broken and displaced radius. Meanwhile his team-mate Yonny Hernández will complete the test tomorrow after enjoying a positive day today working on the traction control and engine braking aspects of his new electronics, improving the handling of the bike and the lap times.
Eugene Laverty: “It’s a disappointing end to a good day of testing. We made good progress with the new electronics and the last exit before I crashed was probably the first time we had the bike working correctly. The lap times were getting better and then I crashed, so I’m disappointed. It would always be nice to do another day but the positive thing is that the bike is working well, we are not too far away from the others and Yonny can continue to test tomorrow. Also the Ducati guys are making a big effort so the aim right now is to recover and return in Sepang in a good way.”
Yonny Hernández: “The first run out yesterday was brief but today we were able to spend almost all day on track here at Jerez. We waited a little this morning for the track to get up to temperature and then we started working again on the new electronics. We tried some different things with the traction control and the engine braking. We have got the bike turning better in the slow corners and I am happy with the job we have done because virtually from the start we went a second quicker than yesterday. The relationship with the team is improving every day and I really like the new electronics, which are quite similar to what I used last year.”