Folllowing doctors orders, Karel Abraham will not be taking part in this weekend’s Italian GP at Mugello.
The Czech rider is nursing a lingering hand injury sustained during the tests at Aragon and has already missed the last three rounds.
During the Sachsenring GP Abraham was replaced by Ducati test rider Franco Battaini (he finished 16th and was lapped) but even if the Mugello is Ducati’s home and test circuit and ‘Iron Frank’ knows the track better than anyone else as he’s put countless laps on it but he will be not replacing Abraham again, as it seems that Ducati Corse wants to keep Battaini focused on the upcoming programmed three-day test (which will also included Ioda Racing’s CRT rider Danilo Petrucci who has gotten permission to test the GP12 for a day).
“Unfortunately, the hand is still not 100%, and I have to respect the doctor’s advice that I shouldn’t needlessly put it under excessive strain,” said Karel Abraham.
” I’m going to physiotherapy, trying to do some training, and I believe that the two weeks before the race at Laguna Seca will be enough to ensure I’m 100% ready.
I’m really disappointed that I’ve lost out on a series of perhaps the best races of the entire championship: Silverstone, Assen, Sachsenring and Mugello are tracks that I really love, and also places that I’ve done quite well at in the past.
Laguna Seca is another on the list, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be back racing by then.
”Karel Abraham snr.
, team manager of Cardion AB Motoracing said, “Franco Battaini did a good job at Sachsenring, and if it was up to us, we’d have liked to give him another opportunity at Mugello.
The problem for us is that Franco is first and foremost a test rider.
Ducati have got him testing after the race at Mugello, and the factory want to make sure he’s 100% focused on that task.
Currently there are five riders in the world who have experience with the Ducati Desmosedici GP12, and the factory would have no issue letting them start.
Besides Rossi, Hayden, Barbera and Karel, that leaves us only Battaini.
To use another rider would theoretically be possible, but we’d have to get the go-ahead from Ducati, the racing teams association – IRTA, and the promoter Dorna.
To find such a rider is a tall order, and bearing in mind the little amount of time before the race, it’s unlikely we’ll be using any replacement rider.
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