VR46 offers update on Fabio Di Giannantonio after season-ending surgery
Di Giannantonio has surgery on left shoulder
The VR46 MotoGP team says Fabio Di Giannantonio has undergone successful surgery on the left should he dislocated at the Austrian Grand Prix in August.
The one-time grand prix winner dislocated the shoulder during a practice crash at the Red Bull Ring and was forced to sit out the Austrian GP.
Ever since, the shoulder has been at increased risk of dislocating again without surgery, leading Di Giannantonio to end his 2024 season at the Thai GP in order to have an operation.
Di Giannantonio had the surgery on Saturday in Rome, which was deemed successful, and will now begin a rehabilitation period of three months.
It is hoped that Di Giannantonio will be fit enough to begin pre-season testing next February, as he gets to grips with the factory-spec GP25 he’ll race next season.
A statement from the VR46 team read: “As expected, Fabio Di Giannantonio underwent surgery this morning to stabilise the injury to his left shoulder, a consequence of the high-speed crash that occurred last summer at the Austrian GP.
“Fabio reached the Villa Stuart clinic in Rome where Professor Alessandro Castagna performed the surgery using arthroscopic techniques.
“The operation was a complete success and the recovery times are estimated at approximately three months.
“Good luck to Fabio and a hug from the entire team for a speedy recovery.
“The goal is to return to the track, aboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP, in good physical condition for the first test of the 2025 season (5-7 February, Sepang International Circuit).”
Di Giannantonio’s place at the VR46 squad has been taken by Andrea Iannone, who has been given an opportunity by Valentino Rossi to race again in MotoGP.
One-time MotoGP winner Iannone hadn’t raced in the series since 2019, when he was subsequently forced to serve a four-year doping ban.
It is not clear if Iannone will be on the bike for the final round of the championship, which is yet to be announced following the cancellation of the Valencia GP due to extreme flooding in the region.
