Colin Edwards will have to undergo surgery after breaking his right collarbone during this afternoon’s second free practice at Montmelo.
Edwards was probably caught out by a cold slick tire after switching bikes and on the out lap crashed heavily at turn 5.
After the initial diagnosis the Texan was taken to the reknowned Dexeus Institute where he’ll undergo surgery performed by Dr Xavier Mir, who has previously treated Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.
“Unfortunately Colin has broken his right collarbone and this is a big shame for him and for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team because we were confident he was going to be very strong and competitive this weekend,” said team manager Herve Poncharal.
“Colin has been superb so far this season and he has shown that even when the competition is probably stronger than ever in MotoGP, he is still one of the fastest out there.
It looks like he paid a heavy price for a very small mistake.
He landed heavily on his shoulder and it was clear from the TV pictures that he was in a lot of pain.
He will have an operation tonight, so we should have a clearer idea of how long the recovery process will be later this weekend.
The important thing now is that he rests and recovers as quickly as he possibly can.
We wish him a fast recovery and hope that it is not too long before we see him back in the garage.
” This will be the first time after 141 races in MotoGP that the Texas Tornado will miss a start and with Dani Pedrosa already sidelined, the grid with be down to only 15 riders with everyone guaranteed to pick up points if they finish the race.