Petronas Yamaha rider Franky Morbidelli underwent surgery on his left knee on Friday morning with the one-hour procedure declared successful.
The surgery to repair the Italian’s injured meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament, took place at Casa di Cura Madre Fortunata Toniolo in Bologna, with Professor Maurilio Marcacci and his team satisfied with the surgery and the outcome of the operation.
Morbidelli will stay in hospital until Sunday for observation before beginning an eight-week rehabilitation programme to assist his recovery - which would conclude ahead of the MotoGP paddock’s arrival at Silverstone for the British GP.
Morbidelli is replaced at Petronas by Garrett Gerloff for the Dutch GP with the American completing the opening day at Assen in 22nd.
“After another painful incident with my left knee training on Wednesday I made the decision, together with Petronas Yamaha SRT and the VR46 Academy, to fix this issue that I’ve been carrying for too long now,” Morbidelli explained via a statement this afternoon.
“I underwent surgery this morning with only one idea in my mind: to come back in the best form as soon as possible and to be able to perform at 100% on the bike.
“I want to thank Professor Maurilio Marcacci and his team for their work. I can’t wait to be able to start my recovery process. I’ll miss my team, my bike and all the fans during this period, but I’m looking forward to being at the circuits again and enjoying racing. Thank you for all of your messages of support. See you soon!” he concluded.
