Yonny Hernandez has passed a medical examination in Barcelona, which he underwent last week to evaluate his physical condition following his big crash during the Yamaha Finance Australian Round.

Crashing on Saturday in Race One, the Columbian was declared unfit to race for the remainder of the weekend as he made his World Superbike  Championship debut in the Yamaha Finance Australian Round.

Upon his return to Europe, Hernandez visited with the renowned specialist Dr. Xavier Mir and was able to receive an encouraging diagnosis, discovering he will be fit to ride in time for WorldSBK’s visit to Chang International Circuit in Thailand. The Pedercini Racing rider suffered a left sternoclavicular sprain, in addition to muscle pain in his chest, but this is already beginning to decrease. Following his medical diagnosis, if the South American continues to undergo physiotherapy he should have no problems with fitness for Round Two.

Lucio Pedercini, team manager, confirmed to WorldSBK.com that he hopes to have his rider fit for the Thai Round: "Yonny does not have any serious physical problems. Apart from the sprain, the fall caused a severe pain in the left shoulder, but I spoke with him yesterday and he told me that the pain had practically disappeared. He has to have physiotherapy, but expectations are good for the second Round. "

"We believe that Yonny can do a good job with us, although he only put in few kilometers with the bike and with WorldSBK tyres," points out the boss of the Italian team. "He will also have to build on his confidence again, but he will race in Thailand and I think that for Aragon he will be ready to be fully competitive in this category"

Hernandez was injured during Race 1 on Saturday, which he could not finish, and was later declared unfit to play Race 2 on Sunday when his functional difficulties were verified in the affected area.

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The Yamaha Finance Australian Round did not bring the best start to the season for Jonathan Rea, as he secured a rare fifth position in Race 1 and second in the Race 2, beaten to the line by Marco Melandri by only a few thousandths.

The triple World Champion acknowledged on Sunday that he didn’t have his usual feeling on board the ZX-10RR, but said: “I’m very happy, especially because of how I felt this week. I've been ill since Wednesday, so finishing fifth on Saturday and second today, and again on the podium, it is just damage limitation."

Rea was also battling through another issue which would have affected his form around the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, as the 31 year old was recovering from surgery on his right hand after an accident in motocross. The crash meant he was forced to undergo surgery on one finger of his right hand and required six stitches – but the tendons weren’t affected.

The reigning world champion and his team decided to focus on moving forward and didn’t mention the incident throughout the Round. Rea took to Instagram to thank the surgeon Jordi Font, who performed the operation at the Tres Torres Clinic in Barcelona on the Monday evening after the weekend.

Surgery on his hand was carried out on 4^th February, taking only one hour – three weeks before the opening race weekend of the season. However Rea was forced to spend ten days recovering in order for the wound to heal, and once he arrived at the circuit he required frequent visits to the Clinica Mobile throughout the week – from the test to the race.

source: worldsbk.com

Upon his return to Europe after competing in the Australian Round, Loris Baz has undergone several medical tests to understand the extent of his right shoulder injury, which he sustained on Friday in FP2.

After X-rays back in his home country of France, the rider has secured a full diagnosis, which is a non-displaced fracture of the greater tubercle (troquiter) and he will require a week of rest and some physiotherapy sessions.

The BMW rider was relieved to hear the news, as it was also suspected that he could have an injury to his tendons, which would have complicated his recovery. With plenty of time before the next round of the WorldSBK championship in Thailand, Baz hopes to return to the track in perfect physical condition.

Baz explains to WorldSBK: “On my way back from Australia I went to the La Tour Hospital in Switzerland to meet Dr. Finn Mahler, who is used to working on my injuries. I had an X-ray and Arthro-IRM on my shoulder, and he suspected a rotator cuff lesion, which would have been a problem. Fortunately I only suffered from a fracture of the right humeral head."

"It is not displaced so I don’t need surgery, and it will take between three and five weeks for a complete recovery. I will spend the next few days resting before attending a few rehabilitation sessions, in order to get some strength back before the second round in Thailand. I don’t know if I will be fully fit, but I managed to race the day after my crash, so I don’t think there should be any particular problem after one month of recovering.”

Despite facing some discomfort throughout the weekend after Friday’s crash, the French rider competed in the first two races of the season - in which he secured 11th and 9th position finishes which put him in ninth in the World Superbike Championship standings.

Source: worldsbk.com

After the announcement on Saturday that Race 2 of Australian WorldSBK would be a flag to flag with a maximum of 12 laps allowed on one set of tyres, the scene was set for a showdown with a difference and Sunday didn’t disappoint.

After a huge fight at the front off the line, the battle incredibly resumed full force after the stop – and by the end, a three-rider battle to decide the podium order saw Marco Melandri complete the double by just hundredths of a second.

Off the line it was reigning Champion Jonathan Rea who took the holeshot, but the field remained tightly packed together in a close fight throughout the top ten. Eugene Laverty was then able to get past and get away, pushing hard at the front in an impressive show of pace, but it wasn’t to be as the Irishman then crashed out of contention and left the big group to fight it out at the front.

After Laverty’s fall, Rea, Melandri, Chaz Davies, Leon Camier, Tom Sykes, Xavi Fores and Pata Yamaha WorldSBK duo Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes were locked in all-out war – and the laps were ticking down towards the mandatory time to make their pitstop.

The first three riders to pit out the lead group were Fores, Rea and van der Mark, with the trio piling into pitlane as the battle remained raging at the front. Davies, Melandri, Lowes and Camier kept it pinned as the three former leaders in pitlane waited the mandatory pit intervention time out, before next time around Davies led the four of the second wave in. Heading out pitlane as the other three blasted down the main straight, the group incredibly reformed almost exactly as it had been but with Davies ahead – and there were just nine uninterrupted laps left.

If the fight wasn’t enough drama already, there was more soon on the way as Race 1 podium finisher and perennial title contender Davies suddenly slid out the lead – having just gained a sliver of daylight between himself and the chasing pack. Rider ok but unable to rejoin, that left Independent Team rider Xavi Fores leading the way, with Rea, Sykes, Melandri, van der Mark, Lowes and Camier concertinaing and tousling for position in the tight battle behind.

As a gap began to appear and Rea appeared to have been able to pull away, the big mover was Melandri and the Italian was far from done. After his stunning Race 1 win managed to perfection, Race 2 was a different animal and the Italian sliced his way through towards the front, passing Sykes into Turn 1 and the Englishman then dropping back slightly as he got stood up. As the last lap dawned, it was Rea leading Melandri and Fores, and the stage was set.

Not quite close enough to make it work into Turn 1, Melandri kept his head down and edged closer to the Kawasaki ahead of him – not quite able to make a move at the hairpin or Lukey Heights, but tagged right onto the back of Rea. Tucking in behind the Kawasaki and catapulting himself out the final corner, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider slipstreamed it to perfection before pulling out alongside Rea, incredibly just able to take it over the line with a photo finish so close, the Ducati box put the pause on their celebrations until the result was confirmed.

Fores completed the podium, with Sykes putting together another solid result at the Island – following his best ever result at the track the day before – to come home fourth. Fifth was another good haul of points for Alex Lowes, who crossed the line ahead of Camier and van der Mark.

Jordi Torres took eighth and got some points on the board after retiring from Race 1, ahead of Loris Baz on his returning weekend and a first top ten result for rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Roman Ramos kept his reputation for consistency going in P11, just ahead of fellow Independent Team rider Leandro Mercado. American Jake Gagne took thirteenth after bouncing back from a crash earlier in the race, with PJ Jacobsen and Laverty, able to rejoin but two laps down, completing the fastest fifteen.

So after opening the season with a double, that makes Melandri the first key Championship leader of the year, but Rea’s 20 points for second in Race 2 were a good bounce back following late issues in Race 1 and a fifth at the flag. Sykes is second in the title fight as it stands, however – and next up it’s all change at Chang International Circuit in Buriram.

source: worldsbk.com