Where It Hurts: Assen
- Sienna Wedes
- Oct 31, 2019
- 6 min read
Pain is a never ending factor in the life of a motorsport athlete. From their first crash to their last and all the way into retirement their bodies gradually become a map of moments reflecting a physically gruelling career. They know the agony that follows the tumbles, crashes, breaks and bruises and yet they jump right back on the horse without a glimmer of thought. Those aches and pains that will grace them with age are not even on their radar right now, unlike those who came before them. It is a mindset that is unhinged but completely and utterly unchangeable so they roll with the punches even if they really hurt.
They are the walking wounded and have been for decades. Legends, sportsmen, lovers of fast bikes and you can see their stories by the way their skin ebbs and flows. Modern day athletes have the ability to bounce back in incredible fashion. Sporting fresh supple scars, bowed legs and a little limp that should go away with time. But, ever since we can remember we have been baffled by the amount of time theses guys allow for their bodies to recover. Last weekend at the Assen TT, five time World Champion Jorge Lorenzo sustained a T6 and T8 fracture after a peculiar crash into the gravel. Lorenzo has a long list of injuries not only in the last twelve months but over the course of his career including two broken ankles (Chinese GP 2008), a broken left collarbone (Assen GP 2013 - sustained on the Thursday, operated that evening and ridden with on the Saturday), lost the end of his ring finger but saved its mobility and functionality (Phillip Island GP 2011), broke the scaphoid in his left wrist (Training injury 2019) and bruised his back, wrist, fingers, feet and ensured a rib fissure (Qatar 2019). You can see by the way he walks that not everything is as oiled as it once was but he is a believer that “Pain and suffering are temporary, surrendering is forever”. A mindset shared by very few.
Ex HRC Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has also faced several injuries mustering up a whopping twenty two between 2003 and 2018 before his decision to retire. These consisted of multiple collar bone fractures, compartment syndrome, fractured left wrist, deep wound to right knee, loss of feeling in left knee, fractured humerus, fractured left tibia and left ankle and a fractured left foot. It is easier to label what he hasn’t broken rather than what he has. Riders like Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi who have had brilliant success, have endured their fair share but unlike most have continued on with little feat. Marc Marquez was left with double vision after a heavy crash at the Malaysian GP in 2011 and a repeated dislocated shoulder in 2018 but in both instances medical treatment fixed the issue. The only remnants are the the scars he has on his youthful skin and there are a fair few mapped out.
Similarly, Rossi was faced with a displaced and exposed leg fracture at the Mugello GP in 2010 and a broken leg during a training crash in 2017. This was a key moment where he realised just how much easier it was to heal seven years earlier in his career. It was one of those moments where his age hit him in the face. Tito Rabat on other hand was clipped by fellow rider Franco Morbidelli’s bike in 2018. He fell victim to a triple fracture in his right leg, but was up taking small steps the next day and only seventy-three days after surgery and physical therapy he was back on a bike. During FP4 in Assen this year, Rabat crashed at the last chicane and in a sprint back to the garage he hobbled across the track, compensating with his left leg. It was nerve racking to hear the bikes closing in and watching him struggle to cross the track. Almost a year later and the effects of the accident are still prominent. Most riders have scars scattered across there bodies in the top class, only a hand full you can see the physical toll at such a young age. Maybe the stress of contractual obligations and a job in one of the hardest industries is what drives them to ignore the pain and heal quicker than realistically possible.
The 80s-90s left riders a little more beaten and off balance than usual and it is something that has had an everlasting effect. Technology hasn’t always been at the level it is now, so accidents and injuries proved to be even more severe than we see today. Five time World Champion Mick Doohan pottered around the Assen TT last weekend for Honda’s 60th Anniversary. He had a slight limp and a large scar on his right ankle and hands that looked a little stiff, in-fact from memory one of them didn’t even move. They were the remnants of a first lap incident in Jerez 1999 where his right leg was trapped underneath his bike. Twisting his lower body in order to get out, he kissed the kerb and caused it to snap. He damaged his wrist, collar bone, the muscles in his back and faced the scary reality of a possible leg amputation.
Broken bones and limps in common, fellow World Champion Kevin Schwantz was no stranger to a crash. 1994 was a year riddled with injuries including ones from his past that came back to haunt him. A dislocated hip, broken collarbone and the biggest of them all, a broken wrist which after returning a mere twenty four hours later (something that usually takes eight weeks and up to six months in total to heal) ended up causing serious cartilage damage and further fractures. The motion of braking and accelerating caused the bones to grind and further serious deterioration. Both of these issues would finish their careers and alter their bodies evermore.
These two are not alone though. Fellow Australian Troy Bayliss who is still racing today, underwent hand surgery in March this year after damaging both hands again. He is a man who couldn’t hide is wounds even if he tried. In 2007 during the Donington World Superbike round he crashed and was sent sliding across the track. The top two joints of his little finger were amputated and one of his testicles had split. Still to this day he says that he walks like someone has hit his manhood with a hammer. Wayne Gardner is another Australian whose injuries outweighed his prospects in the sport. After sustaining a broken foot, broken leg and broken wrist over the course of his career he decided it was time to call it quits. He was tired and things weren’t working as they usually would. Much like himself, son Remy Garnder at a mere age of twenty one years old broke both of his legs and fractured his ankle in a motor cross accident last year. He is now back racing for CIP team and fighting at the front but what will his body decide to do in several years time when he’s put those cracked bones to use too quickly. Will it be another re-run in the footsteps of his father?
There is no doubt the older generation has played a key role in creating better technology to keep riders safe. The FIM introduced compulsory airbags in riders suits in 2018 and their kit is constantly tested to reach the highest quality possible. But, this protection isn’t fool proof and in the modern times, injuries can be just as severe as they have always been in this industry. At the moment, bouncing back isn’t the problem. Riders that are young and in their prime naturally heal quicker, it’s easy for them to be flippant. There is no question that the speed of their recovery is impressive but sometimes you have to sit back and wonder if they are thinking about their bodies long term. It doesn’t seem to be an idea that is programmed into their minds. Maybe they have already accepted their fate ahead of those grey hairs and creaky joints or maybe they feel like they don’t have a choice.
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