After all, it went well considering the risk taken. Leonardo Abruzzo was involved in a bad accident during Practice (the round in which the protagonists of Q1 and Q2 are decided), thus prematurely ending the JuniorGP Moto3 round in Portimao. The MTA standard-bearer, like various other riders, was unable to avoid a trail of oil left by another rider’s motorbike, with the consequences one can imagine. In addition to a head injury, Abruzzo suffered a fracture to the malleolus of his right foot: he underwent surgery yesterday at the Humanitas Mater Domini Hospital in Castellanza and was discharged just this morning. The JuniorGP will restart in mid-September, there is plenty of time to get back into shape and continue his progression in the championship.
Leonardo Abruzzo, can you tell us what happened in the JuniorGP in Portimao?
A rider before me had crashed and broken his crankcase, but they didn’t notice. When he restarted he lost oil all over the track! I was in a small group and we all fell. They told me I hit my head and fainted, and several motorbikes crashed into me. I don’t remember anything about the fall, I only remember when they took me in an ambulance from the Medical Center to the hospital. Once there they took x-rays and a CT scan of my head: in the end it only came out that I broke my ankle, as well as head trauma with amnesia.
You then returned to Italy.
Yes, Monday afternoon, and yesterday morning they performed the operation: they numbed my legs and put screws to “reattach” the ankle to the tibia. Now we move on to painkillers. It’s part of the game, we know it before we start! In the end it could have been much, much worse.
How are you now? What are the recovery times?
Regarding the ankle, they told me that in about 20 days I can get back on the bike. However, I would like to avoid racing too much and making the situation worse, given that we have a summer break in the JuniorGP. I’ll even wait a little longer. Regarding the head injury, I’m still a little dazed, but little by little it will pass.
Let’s take stock: it’s your debut year in JuniorGP, how is it going?
It’s going well, if we look at the results they are always growing. The feeling with the bike is getting better and better and I’m getting along better and better with the team too. In fact, in the last race in Barcelona I finished 11th. More important than the placing, however, was the gap from the leaders: in the first race of the year I arrived 39 seconds behind, in Barcelona I finished 3 seconds behind!
How was it going in Portimao before the ‘bad incident’?
At that moment I was 12th, but I was lapping with the times of the leaders. I felt very good, in my opinion I could have done even better…
How is the JuniorGP, harder than expected or were you ‘prepared’?
It’s a lot harder than I expected at first. I’m not at my best yet, I know I can do much, much better, I still have room for growth.
