Pawi undergoes second surgery on hand injury

Khairul Idham Pawi has undergone a second surgery on his right hand injury which has blighted his 2019 Moto2 campaign with the Petronas Sprinta Racing squad.

The Malaysian rider has already missed eight rounds this season after sustaining a hand injury at the Spanish round at Jerez in May.

After targeting an initial comeback following the summer break at Brno, recovering from an initial surgery when he had a partial amputation of his little finger on his right hand, the pain from the injury proved to great as he pulled out of the Czech Republic round midway through.

Having also missed the Austrian round, with Jonas Folger filling in, Pawi has had a second surgery to insert a screw in the reconstructed bone in his finger. The surgery was completed by Dr Xavier Mir at Hospital Universitari Dexeus in Barcelona.

“KIP had a partial amputation to his little finger three months ago, and so far his rehabilitation has gone well in the sense that the finger’s vascular structure has healed well,” Dr Mir said.

“Now, the second surgery will help the bone’s reconstruction by fixing the phalange in place.”

Pawi will return to Malaysia to continue his recovery as he aims to return to the Moto2 grid “as soon as he is fully fit”, according to his Petronas Sprinta Racing squad.

“I want to thank Dr. Mir and his team again for this second surgery,” Pawi said. “I can’t be more grateful for all the efforts they are spending on me to get me back to fitness.

“Now it’s time to go home to Malaysia, spend some days with my family and then start training hard again to come back strongly to Moto2 as soon as possible.

“I also want to say thank you also for all the support and messages from the team, colleagues and fans. I’m really looking forward to riding my Petronas Sprinta Racing bike again.”

Folger is expected to continue as stand-in at the Sepang-run team until Pawi returns, with the German rider finishing in 18^th place in the Austrian Moto2 race last weekend.