Quartararo: I couldn’t have finished Assen race…

Fabio Quartararo has explained the reasoning behind undergoing surgery to relieve compartmental syndrome on his right arm after the Italian Grand Prix, stating it was necessary before back-to-back races at Assen and the Sachsenring.

The 20-year old rookie sensation revealed he had encountered issues with losing the feel in his forearm during races in Qatar, France and Mugello, where he described the problem as “critical.”

During a scintillating ride to second place in the Moto2 race at Assen a year ago, Quartararo also felt some strain. It was his opinion that, in his physical state from Mugello, he would be unable to manhandle a MotoGP machine around the Dutch venue without some kind of surgical intervention.

“The most important thing is that the FIM declared me fit for the race,” said the one-time GP winner, referring to his fitness test on Thursday. “Of course we are not 100% unfortunately, but I'm feeling quite good. The only thing is we need to manage.

“The first practice will be different, to have the feeling of the first laps. But anyway, I am sure we will manage to have a good Friday, and don't stress too much our arm.

“For the holidays it's better! But in Qatar I already had a small alert, in Le Mans, the last ten laps, and Mugello was half of the race. So I decided to make it now, because here is a tough track, and Assen, I already had some alerts in Moto2.

“So if I didn't have it before Assen, for sure I wouldn't be able to finish the race. Assen and Sachsenring are two races in a row, so I think it's good to have my arm prepared for these two hard races.

“In the first day I used the bike in Valencia, in Jerez [I felt something]. But step by step it was getting less stressful on the bike, I was riding, let's say, smoothly. And now I'm riding smoothly and also fast.

“So the Mugello race was critical, because we had some problems on the front tyre, so I need to push much more the way I had to manage my physical condition.

“And that was difficult with my arms, so I got arm pump in the middle of the race. And we decided not to do a fast surgery. We did all the tests, we decided to make it because it was a clear vision from Dr. Mir, who said one day or another, you will need to make the surgery. So we decided to make it now.

“Maybe for this race it was not necessary to have the surgery. Because I think it's not the toughest track of the year for the arms, but I think if we made it after Barcelona it would have been for Assen and Sachsenring.

“So I think we need to be really fit for these races, because we know Assen for me is the most critical in terms of physical condition. So we managed to get it done for this race.”