Surgeon warns Andrea Dovizioso not to underestimate collarbone injury
The doctor who will operate on Andrea Dovizioso's broken collarbone says the injury appears serious and has warned the Italian to be careful on his return

Dovizioso sustained the injury in a motocross fall on Thursday. Dr Giuseppe Porcellini, who operated on Valentino Rossi's 2010 shoulder injury, will carry out surgery today, with Dovizioso hoping to be fit for when MotoGP testing resumes in Malaysia on 31 January.
"I've seen a picture of the collarbone on the phone and it does look very displaced indeed with two fragments," Dr Porcellini told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We couldn't avoid surgery even if he was an office worker.
"We'll have to insert a plate and then I'll try to recommend Dovizioso to have at least 15 days of rest, in the hope that he'll then be able to go testing. In any case, he'll have to be careful: let's not forget that [Dani] Pedrosa last year underwent three collarbone surgeries."
Dovizioso said the incident was a relatively minor one that had large consequences.
"I came to Alghero to train. It was very windy and, between a hump and another, I lost the front," he told Gazzetta. "I was going very slowly, but because of the sandy surface the wheel sank and I crashed forwards: the bike fell on me and I broke my right collarbone."
He admitted it would be a significant blow if he was not fully fit in time for the first 2012 test, as he is still acclimatising to new team Tech 3 and its Yamaha after moving from long-time employer Honda over the winter.
"I'm hopeful of being able to recover by the end of the month," said Dovizioso. "The Sepang test is very important. I want to be in the best possible condition in order to give the Yamaha engineers indications to develop the M1."
Capirossi says Bridgestone tyres are first priority in new role as MotoGP safety advisor
Andrea Dovizioso expected to be fit for first MotoGP test after successful collarbone surgery
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.