Fabio di Giannantonio: “Important appointment” on Wednesday

Following an eighth-place finish in Sunday’s Japanese MotoGP, Fabio di Giannantonio will return to Europe for an ‘important appointment’ to discuss his injured left shoulder.

The VR46 rider dislocated his shoulder in a Friday practice accident at the Red Bull Ring in August, ruling him out of the Austrian event.

di Giannantonio has ridden with painkillers in the five rounds since and acknowledges he faces a heightened risk of further dislocations.

But if surgery is required, it would be followed by several months of rehabilitation.

Depending on the conclusion of the medical meeting, Diggia might opt to undergo an operation immediately, skipping the final rounds of this season to ensure he is fit to test his factory-spec GP25 at Sepang on January 31.

“On Wednesday I have an important appointment to understand how will be my condition for the rest of this season, or next year. So after that we will understand everything,” di Giannantonio said.

“For sure, as I said many times, my goal is to do as many races as possible and finish the season in a good way.

“But also, the important thing is to arrive next year at 100% from the first test.

“So we have many things to consider. Let’s see. We have to consider my will to race but also to recover [fully] for next season.”

Making the decision potentially more difficult is that di Giannantonio felt he was back to his pre-injury best at Motegi, where he battled from 14th on the opening lap to finish in the wheel tracks of team-mate Marco Bezzecchi.

“A bittersweet feeling because I’m super-happy about the weekend overall, because I have been fast like the 'old times' before my injury and we showed good speed again,” di Giannantonio said.

“But a pity for the race because the first lap was a real jungle and it destroyed a bit my result. I think we could have been fighting with Morbidelli and Binder [fifth and sixth] because my pace was really similar after the first third of the race.

“So, a pity, but happy with the race overall.”

Team manager Pablo Nieto said: “A positive week for Fabio, who has reduced the painkillers, and who is definitely feeling better on the Ducati.”

Di Giannantonio is ninth in the world championship, one point behind Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and one point ahead of Bezzecchi.