Yannik Grafmüller
Motorcycle Department
Yannik is one of those rare breed who are equally adept on two and four wheels. At MSM, however, his love is entirely for MotoGP.MORE
What happened? After a bad start from the second row, Espargaro was stuck behind Alex Marquez and Brad Binder for long stretches on Saturday afternoon, and after a failed overtaking attempt against the KTM rider, behind Fabio Di Giannantonio. However, by the end of the penultimate lap, he had managed to overtake Marquez and Binder and then began to hunt down Di Giannantonio, who had already fought his way past all three.
Aleix Espargaro injured: fracture in the little finger of the right hand
Since the two drivers were only separated by a few hundredths in the last sector, Espargaro probably wanted to make a similar overtaking maneuver in the final chicane as he did in 2022, when he outbraked Binder and Jack Miller in the final meters. But this time, this attempt failed miserably: The The Aprilia driver came into turn 15 far too quickly, lost the front and flew into the gravel at high speed. He initially remained knocked out, but was able to leave the gravel bed on his own two feet a short time later.
Nevertheless, Espargaro underwent a check-up in the medical center on the track immediately afterwards. The Aprilia team gave the all-clear, but announced shortly afterwards that the number 41 rider – as well as wildcard driver Lorenzo Savadori – had gone to the nearby hospital in Assen for further examinations.
There, Espargaro had an X-ray performed, which revealed a small fracture on the lowest bone of the little finger on his right hand. This fracture was subsequently confirmed by a CT scan. An operation will probably not be necessary, but it is still unclear whether the Aprilia rider will be able to start in the Dutch TT on Sunday. Espargaro will have to undergo another examination by the MotoGP doctors on Sunday morning, who will then give him the go-ahead to start or ban him from starting.
© Motorsport Magazine