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Marc Marquez Finger Injury Highlights Occupational Hazard

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Marc Marquez injured his left pinky finger as a result of a crash while training on a dirt track a couple of days ago. He has already undergone surgery, and the broken bone has been plated.

Motorcycle road racers injure, and even lose, fingers all the time. It is an occupational hazard. Off the top of my head, I know that Troy Bayliss, John Hopkins, and Bubba Shobert have all lost fingers. Can you name others?

Integral to the decision whether Marquez can ride next weekend at Jerez is the number of fingers he uses to operate the clutch. Many, if not most, riders use two fingers (index and middle), but some riders use as many as four. Do you know which fingers Marquez uses to operate his clutch lever?

Here is the press release from Repsol Honda regarding the injury and subsequent surgery:

Repsol Honda rider operated on this afternoon to treat fracture to little finger of left hand, suffered while training dirt track. His participation in the Spanish Grand Prix has not been ruled out.

Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez has been successfully operated on this afternoon by Dr. Xavier Mir, Head of the Unit for Hand and Upper Extremities Pathology at the Hospital Universitario Quiron Dexeus in Barcelona.

Dr. Mir commented after the surgery that Marquez had “attended the casualty department of the Hospital Universitario Quiron Dexeus having suffered a crash in training this morning. The patient presented a deformity to the little finger of his left hand and a subsequent X-Ray showed a fracture of the proximal phalanx, with displacement. Therefore, we decided to treat the injury -as we would in the case of any other patient- by fixing a titanium plate to his finger. This will allow us to initiate functional recovery after 24 hours and give him a chance of racing at Jerez.”

30 Comments

  1. Norm G. says:

    Q: Can you name others?

    A: yup Jay Lorenzo, the guy headlining one of your other articles. Philip Island 2011 remember.

    well he lost his finger tip, but technically it was reattached. I know I know, he’s got all his digits, but gruesome nonetheless.

  2. Trpldog says:

    I rode for weeks without my head – my wife said my IQ actually went up.

  3. pete Rasmussen says:

    They can lose a lot more than fingers! Grt to see them race at this level and rarely get hurt. Big improvement from days gone by.

  4. Aussie M says:

    Barry Sheene lost a finger.

  5. Gary says:

    I have all my fingers but I believe I lost my mind for a period in the mid 70s.

  6. TooGood619 says:

    Roger Lee Hayden has a nub for a pinky…

  7. Cycle53x12 says:

    Darrel Beatie lost little toe in chain, Wayne Rainey lost pinkie and many more lost parts.

  8. TZ250 says:

    Does anyone know if the new Honda seamless transmission requires clutching on downshifts? I’ve searched the web and couldn’t find that answer. I thought that they used a combination of a slipper clutch and electronics to control the rear wheel and that clutching was no longer required. If that’s the case, Marquez will only need to clutch at the start of the race and that’s it.

  9. Hot Dog says:

    I think it is now time to throw support behind racing mittens.

  10. Tommy D says:

    Remember that daily on how many wins MM will have this season? Seems those that listed lower numbers put the a big jinx on him.

  11. Ninja9r says:

    Max Biaggi had a damaged pinky removed mid season one year so he could keep racing without interruption. I believe it was the throttle hand.

    • Dino says:

      You would think there would be a less intense way to save a little weight… Pity.

      How does he drink Tea at a fancy restaurant now?

  12. pete Rasmussen says:

    Jorge lost a finger. These guys are all nutters just look at Mick Doohan. We are surrounded by nutters nowadays! Look at what surfers are doing, people jumping off buildings, insane motocross antics, sailers in the southern ocean. Point a camera at someone and it seems the nutter emerges! Very nice nutters though!

  13. xLaYN says:

    I’m not sure if surgery and medicine state of the art allows this to be done and be in “good enough” shape or these guys some years into GP find themselves all aching, ligaments hurting and noticing “this is not straight” for all the straight bones.
    I guess it’s similar the scenario for all sports.

  14. aaron b says:

    I’m pretty sure one of the Hayden brothers (Roger?) lost a digit a not too long ago and If I remember correctly Freddie Spencer (or was it Doug Poland) has a big toe attached to where one of his thumbs once used to be…

  15. Bob L says:

    Won’t slow him down.

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