Bautista Diagnosed With Spinal Injuries

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/worldsbk-bautista-diagnosed-with-spinal-injuries/

After medical specialist consultation and cervical spine MRI review due to loss of strength, numbness, and tingling sensation in the left upper limb reported after the crash in Jerez test and MotoGP Grand Prix of Malaysia, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team’s rider was diagnosed with C6-C7 hernia and C5-C6 disc protrusions.

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Well, this could get interesting. Bautista's first outing with 2024 ballast, and he suffers spinal injuries. He wasn't struck by the bike, but we have no information about the ballasting rules so Ducati could use this to fan the flames against bike-rider combined weight. Unclear if they will move that direction, since the lack of in-season rpm adjustments, and their obligations to privateer teams has rendered the 2023 Bautista model ineffective going forward. It would be unlike Ducati not to leverage this tragedy in some way, though.