Pol Espargaro fell badly at the end of March at the season opener in Portimao (Portugal) during the second Friday practice session. The Spaniard sustained several injuries when he hit the barrier, including a broken lower jaw.
Since then, Espargaro has had to take a break. Since Austin (USA) he has been represented by Jonas Folger in the Tech3-GasGas team. The German will stay on the KTM until Espargaro recovers and is ready for a comeback.
Espargaro himself gave an update for the first time since the serious injury. “I’m finally back on social media,” he says in a video on his Instagram channel. “It’s been a month and a week since the accident.”
Espargaro reveals: “A total of eight bones were broken”
“I can talk a little now. I broke my lower jaw in two places. My mouth was completely closed for four weeks. I couldn’t eat anything. I lost a lot of weight.”
“But now I can laugh again and speak quite well. I also had an ear injury which was operated on after the accident in Barcelona. I had several injuries. There were a total of eight bones broken in my body.”
“Two ribs, one fracture in the neck and three in the back, which are taking a little longer to heal. The doctors are checking this very closely. One vertebra has lost half its process. You have to be very careful with an injury like this.”
“A spinal cord injury can also damage the spinal cord very quickly. We are working hand in hand with the doctors so that I can return as soon as possible. I have to come back healthy.”
“Of course I want to jump on the bike as soon as I look at the results from Jerez. The factory is doing great and the bike is a rocket now,” he said of the podium finishes from his colleagues Brad Binder and Jack Miller.
When a comeback could be realistic
Espargaro is also in regular contact with his Tech 3 team. Team boss Herve Poncharal misses his driver a lot, because the Spaniard can motivate and inspire the whole team with his enthusiasm.
“We all love Pol because he’s full of life and always positive,” says Poncharal on the MotoGP Podcast. “You always want to cuddle him. He’s never negative. He had a broken jaw and could only drink with a straw.”
“Now he can talk and eat normally again. He’s been through a lot, but he says it was the most difficult phase. He sends me videos and photos to show me his progress. He wants to come back as soon as possible. He is fully motivated.”
And when could a comeback realistically loom? “It won’t be Le Mans. The next goal is Mugello,” says Poncharal. “But we don’t know yet and have to wait for the position of the doctors.”