MotoGP: VR46's Fabio Di Giannantonio to Miss Final Two Rounds Due to Shoulder Surgery

The VR46 Ducati rider Fabio di Giannantonio, will miss the last two races of the 2024 MotoGP season for shoulder surgery. He injured his left shoulder during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix in August. Di Giannantonio had planned to wait until the season ended for surgery to fix a dislocation. However, after evaluations following the Motegi race, he decided to keep racing. Despite his efforts, the pain from the injury has led him to choose surgery sooner. He will have the operation after this weekend's Thai GP in Buriram. It will cause him to miss the final races in Malaysia and Valencia, and the post-season test in Valencia.

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Team Director Alessio Salucci said: 'On the one hand, as a Team, I am really sorry to have to give this news, because I know how much effort Fabio has put in these last months after the crash. It wasn’t easy, but he always gave his best. This decision doesn’t come by chance, he could have continued to race till Valencia, but this would have meant postponing the surgery until the end of November. He wouldn’t have been enough time to optimize the recovery and rehabilitation and this would have certainly affected his physical condition in view of the start of the next season. It’s a decision totally shared with Fabio, all the medical staff, Professor Castagna and also our partners who support us in this project.'

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Fabio di Giannantonio said: 'I would have liked to race till Valencia, close the season in the best possible way with the Team and then take all the time necessary to deal with the surgery, recovery and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, however, the calendar is really demanding, the winter break is so short and we cannot risk not arriving at the peak of physical condition at the start of the 2025. Together with the Team, the medical staff and Professor Castagna, we evaluated in the week after the Thai GP the maximum limit to be able to proceed with the shoulder surgery. I thought about it for a long time, because it was important for me to give my all until the last race to repay everyone for the great trust they gave me in this 2024, but I am sure that this decision will be really important for my future.'

Di Giannantonio's top finish of the 2024 season so far is a fourth-place result at the Dutch Grand Prix. Currently, he is tied on points with his VR46 teammate, Marco Bezzecchi, and both riders are ranked 10th in the championship standings.