Surgery for Zarco after Austrian accident, FIM meeting

While Johann Zarco thought he had escaped the massive Austrian MotoGP accident with Franco Morbidelli largely unscathed, a fracture to the scaphoid bone in his right wrist was discovered during follow-up checks on Monday.

The Frenchman, who made history for the Avintia Ducati team with pole position and a podium at the previous Brno round, will now travel to Italy and undergo surgery on Wednesday.

But Zarco is already planning a return to the Red Bull Ring on Thursday, when the #5 revealed there will be "a meeting about the big incident that happened on Sunday" and a decision will also be made about whether he is fit enough to compete in weekend's second back-to-back Red Bull Ring event.

It is not out of the question. Cal Crutchlow broke his scaphoid during warm-up at the opening Jerez event, underwent surgery in Barcelona, then returning for round two. Data from last weekend's round also means Zarco would have the option to sit out some of the sessions.

“On Monday I did some checks on my right wrist because there was still some pain, and I've got a little fracture on the scaphoid," Zarco said. "I will go to Italy for the operation on Wednesday morning, with a doctor that has very good contact with Ducati and has operated on riders many times

"Then we will come back to Austria, and I will be at the track on Thursday to have a meeting about the big incident that happened on Sunday."

That belated meeting has been called by the FIM MotoGP Stewards - Bill Cumbow, Freddie Spencer and Ralph Bohnhorst - who have summoned Zarco and Morbidelli, plus Pol Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira, following their respective race incidents.

'The FIM's mission is to support riders and contribute to their safety and education, as well as to apply any sanctions required by the FIM Regulations,' said a statement from the FIM MotoGP Stewards, suggesting penalties could yet be applied.

Meanwhile, "If the feeling is OK on the wrist and the Medical Center declares me fit to ride, I will try and see if I can ride the bike," Zarco said. "The advantage this weekend is we already have all the references from the week before, so it is not a big drama if I miss a few sessions and I can take one more day to feel if my wrist is ok.

"Now, the main thing is the operation, and after that see if my feeling improves. The team is working on the bike to prepare it, and I know everything will be ready if I come back on the bike.

"Maybe there will be some rain, so this is also a chance because on the rain we have less effort on the bike and for me it will be a really good chance with the rain if I can race without much effort on the wrist.”

Zarco joins Crutchlow, Alex Rins, Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia in suffering an injury during the opening four rounds.

Morbidelli will also be far from fully fit, his Petronas team saying the Italian's 'right hand, shoulder and head took the brunt of the crash'. However, 'a CT scan showed that there was no major injury. Franco later returned to the pit box and has been declared fit for next week’s race'.