Unfortunately for Avintia Ducati rider Loris Baz, he will be unable to compete at the eighth round of the MotoGP at the Motul TT Assen as he is not yet ready to return after coming off earlier in the season and having to undergo surgery on his right foot.
Bad luck for Baz at Mugello
The sixth round of the MotoGP at Mugello was very eventful. On race day Baz was involved in an incident including two other rider Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) at turn one. Bautista apologised as he “involuntarily involved” the other two in an incident. The Spaniard had to use his second bike for the race after crashing his first one in the morning warm-up session and had issues with the front brake which he tried to adjust himself before after the warm-up lap. As he entered the first corner his front wheel locked up which brought him off on the way into turn one and he took out Baz and Miller in the process.
Both Bautista and Miller were able to walk away but Baz knew he was hurt badly, he was immediately taken to the medical centre where they were able to relocate a dislocated first metatarsal however he had to fly to Switzerland to have his foot operated on by Doctor Ray. Once the swelling subsided the doctor had to operate to insert three plates, approximately fifteen screws and two nails as one of the four metatarsals that was broken was badly damaged.
Baz on the mend but will miss Assen GP
Baz has been keeping his fans up to date on his injuries through social media, the swelling has reduced a lot now and he recently had the stitches removed, he is also due to have the pins removed soon however he will be unable to meet his personal target of being ready to compete again for the next round in Assen. The Frenchman already missed the Barcelona GP; he was replaced temporarily by Michele Pirro who will again take his seat on the Avintia Ducati for the eighth round.
The Ducati rider has spoken of how he is “disappointed” to be unable to make the Assen round as this was his target after his crash in Mugello despite him trying his “best from the beginning”. He said, “From the very first moment, the doctors told me that being ready for Assen would be really difficult.” Speaking about his upcoming treatment he mentioned how he will be having some of the metalwork removed from his foot on the 23rd of this month and that he knows that it will be “impossible to ride the bike just on Friday”.
Remains hopeful to return for Saschenring
Baz feels “it’s a shame” as he favours Assen and he reminisced about setting the WSBK lap record there. He is “eager to get back” to the garage with his team “to solve the problems”. As much as he would like to be there he said he is “forced to wait a couple of weeks and head (to) Germany with a stronger foot”. He said, “Everything is going perfect and I work hard every day.”
Despite being unable to attend the Austrian round of the MotoGP he wished his teammate Hector Barbera (Avintia Ducati) luck and Pirro as he hopes he can “get a good result for the team”. He finished by saying, “See you in Saschenring!”