Aleix Espargaro prepares for last-minute surgery: ‘No strength, very strange’

The Aprilia race winner, who battled for the 2022 championship until the penultimate round, was sixth and top Aprilia by mid-afternoon but could only do short runs due to the ‘very strange’ inflammation issue.

“I cannot do many laps, unfortunately. I have no strength in my arm like yesterday,” he revealed. “So I just did a couple of short runs to try some geometry for the race.

“It was quite positive. I was quite fast, but still, I'm not riding good. I have no strength in the arm and I can do just 2-3 laps and then stop.

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“It looks like a fibrosis [thickening/scarring of the tissue],” he explained. “We did some [scans] here with the doctors and it looks like I have a big fibrosis that is pushing the muscle and this is why I have no power on the hand.”

The Spaniard might now need to undergo surgery as soon as possible, in order to be fit for the March 24-26 race weekend.

“It looks like they have to open, clean it and close it again,” he said. “It's not a dramatic surgery, but anyway tomorrow at 8:00am I will be in the Dexeus [hospital] to do more tests and see what we [decide to do].

“It's a little bit worrying for me because it's not really arm pump. I don't feel the arm super big, but even in the first lap I have no strength on the front brake… It’s like this arm was completely sleeping. So it's a bit frustrating.”

Team-mate Maverick Vinales is currently ninth quickest, with 1.5 hours of testing to go.