American Ducati rider Ben Spies has had a turbulent year. After winning the World Superbike Championship in 2009 the Memphis native has yet to enjoy the same success. Indeed, things came to a head in October of 2012 when he suffered a severe shoulder injury in Malaysia. Sustained during the Malaysian Grand Prix, Spies underwent extensive surgery to fix the problem and this included a reconstruction of his coracoclavicular ligaments in addition to work on his acrimioclavicular joint. Spies had been tipped to return to action earlier this year and, in fact, he attempted a return at Mugello a few weeks ago however this comeback was short lived. While many thought that Mugello was the race the former AMA Superbike Champion would be making his return in and it was widely reported that he would be taking part, his shoulder issues persistent and he was forced to withdraw before the event even started. There had been a considerable amount of speculation and attention paid to his future within Ducati however the fact that he is currently on a two year contract that runs until the end of 2014 - and it would be particularly hard for Ducati to get out of this - means that Spies is expected to stay with the Italians for another year yet. Indeed, there does not seem to be any desire amongst the Italians to get rid of him after the Ducati management met with him at Mugello last week after he had pulled out of the race. In terms of his comeback Spies is reluctant to set a fixed date due to the disappointment at Mugello and is certainly weary about coming back to early after such a big operation and extended period of recovery. That being said, it is rumoured that Spies has set August as the month he expecs to be back competing due to the fact that the Moto GP is rolling into Indianapolis which is effectively his 'home race'. It will take time for the American to get back to his best and for fans to see the confident rider who successfully made the switch over to Moto GP. While just getting back on the track is more important at the minute than thinking about a podium finish, the 28 year old ha surely got the prospect of success somewhere in the back of his mind.
You know I feel for Spies, he's got the talent that's a given but I think Yamaha from what I have read treated him like shit last year and used him as a development rider for Jorge, lots of failures, offs... some his fault, some the teams, some the bikes and to end up as injured as he was I think it's great Ducati have given him the chance... I just hope he comes good for them and himself.
I bet he wishes it was that simple, by all accounts his shoulder now contains body parts from a donor dead body... I'd imagine severe nerve damage and blood supply would be the simple issues he's having
I know loads of people now who have ridden with a broken collar bone, and they don't get paid to, so while its a test of 'mettle' its not in the same bracket as Chris Walker with his two broken ankles...and its no where near as disabling as a major shoulder problem affecting tissue and nerves
Yep ... if you are going to break something, make it a collar bone. Trying to compare Jorge's injury to Ben's is way off the mark.
That is heroic...forgot he did that, didn't realise they were broken but remember he couldn't stand that well
Stalker did the same many years ago, Haslam bust his leg last year in practice at PI, got it pinned and raced on Sunday.
Note that its all bones. Break...pin...wobble on crutches and get back on. That's the issues with ligaments etc, you can't pin em and crack on. Until I did my own I'd have thought a break was far worse. Now, I'd rather have broken both arms and a leg than damaged my shoulder and knee bits n bobs. It would have been no worse in the short term and 10 weeks and would have been likely back to normal. I'll be lucky if they are ever back to what they were hope Spies gets thru this as he's fab to watch when on song
Shoulders are not fun injured I'm still struggling with my fractured shoulder it's nowhere near as strong as it was I have an extra nodule where the damage has repaired but that nodule won't easily go under the clavicle which often traps my muscle or nerve and the pain can be awful resulting in nearly being sick It will never be any better than it is I just have to try and keep it strong I can no longer lift anything heavy above shoulder height either Dislocating the other at the same tome has left it prone to doing it again as the ligaments are stretched and they dint ping back easily To ride a GP bike would be a no no so I hope Spies makes a full recovery and to do that he will need time and exercise to get anywhere near the shoulders full capacity if ever
