Moto2: Luthi to ride fresh from surgery

Thomas Luthi will attempt to keep his Moto2 World Championship hopes alive by taking part in this weekend's Catalan Grand Prix, less than one week after undergoing shoulder surgery.

And it won't be the first or even second time that Luthi has ridden hurt.

The Interwetten Moriwaki rider dislocated his left collarbone in a motocross training fall just before Silverstone, where he got to within half a lap of victory, before pressure from a slide just five days later at Assen caused a fracture in the injured bone.

But again Luthi braved the pain for a podium finish and he is now up to third in the championship, just two points from Shoya Tomizawa and 26 from title leader Toni Elias.

Straight after last Saturday's Assen race, Luthi underwent surgery.

"I will definitely try to ride in Barcelona," confirmed the Swiss star. "I feel fine after the operation and there are still [more] days to go to get well. I am currently in the top three of the championship and I don't want to risk to lose this position with a zero points race."

"It was a fantastic performance of Tom to ride the bike home to second with a dislocated collarbone in Silverstone and then in Assen he hit the target again with the third place and an already broken collarbone by that time," commented Luthi's manager Daniel Epp. "This shows his strong will and the power this young man has. He will do all he can to start the race in Barcelona."