Just a week ago we experienced moments of great fear after Pol Espargaro’s crash which caused a long red flag during the second free practice session of the Portuguese Grand Prix. The Spaniard ended up against the barriers at turn 10 in Portimao, not protected by the air fences, breaking his jaw and a vertebra, as well as recovering a pulmonary trauma. Immediately airlifted to Faro hospital, he was then transferred to Barcelona, where he underwent jaw surgery.
A week after the accident, good news arrives. During the first free practice session of the Argentine Grand Prix, Hervé Poncharal spoke about the condition of the GasGas driver, offering a positive update: “We have some good news, because Pol is full of life and eager to come back. He has been feeling a little down in recent days because he was alone in intensive care, without the possibility of getting out of bed ”.
“If you know him, you know it must be painful for him. The good news is that he left the ICU and was transferred to the ward and was able to get up and walk around a bit. He feels good and sent all of us an amazing, heartfelt message of dedication. He said ‘I will do everything I can to be there as soon as possible’. He was also very happy to have Jonas Folger replace him because he likes him and thinks it’s the best opportunity,” continued the team boss.
Herve Poncharal, KTM Tech3
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Poncharal is extremely relieved to see his driver with high morale: “Last night we were worried about Pol’s morale and today is a completely different day, with a completely different Pol. So we don’t want to talk about how long he’ll be out of the action, because we know the pilots surprise us sometimes. Surely he will be stopped for a while, many races, but I’m sure the doctors will be surprised to see him sooner than they currently expect”.
Poncharal added that Espargaro’s main problem at the moment is a fractured vertebra, which takes time to heal: “He had a bad jaw fracture. It’s painful, because he’s had surgery, he can’t speak and has to eat through a straw. But it’s nothing really serious, it’s just a painful moment to overcome that won’t last too long. The main problem is the back, to reassure everyone, he will soon be able to race and be in the ideal position to ride a MotoGP bike, hopefully very soon. But it takes time for the vertebra to heal. At the moment he has a torso, he cannot move and it will take some time. This is the worst part of the injury.”
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