SBK, Barrier: surgery on his right hand a success

In Race 2 at Aragon he was forced to retire after just two turns due to a crash that left him with fractures to the second, third and fourth metacarpal. A weekend to forget for Sylvain Barrier, who immediately realised he had broken his fingers: “I wanted to change gear while I was in first but shifted to neutral – the Team Pedercini Racing release reports – at that point I engaged second but found myself thrown from my Ninja ZX-10R. The bike bounced on my hand while I was on the ground and I knew I'd broken my fingers”.

Surgery took place on Wednesday evening in Lyon, at the Clinique du Parc, with the operation executed perfectly by Dr. Jérome Garret. The rider came out of theatre at 7.30pm. There is good news in terms of recovery time: “They said I'd need at least three weeks before getting back on the bike but my doctor guarantees that I'll be back in time for Imola – Barrier's words on the Team's Facebook page - seeing as the surgery's been a success, I really hope this is the case because I really want to show my potential in front of the friendly Italian crowd.”

The team will shortly announce the name of the rider who will substitute for the Frenchman at Assen, taking place over the weekend of 16-17 April.