Spanish motorcyclist Sete Gibernau will miss
the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix after undergoing surgery
Wednesday.
Gibernau fractured a metacarpal bone in his right hand and
re-injured his collarbone _ which he had fractured in June _ in a
crash at Sunday's Portuguese race.
The Ducati rider had stem cells from his body extracted and then
injected into his hand and collarbone at the San Jose hospital in
Madrid.
``The results obtained with this technique on patients with
weakened bones and repeated fractures have so far been very
satisfactory,'' said Dr. Angel Villamor, who performed the surgery.
``The operation, which avoids the immobilization of the
traumatized limb, went well.''
Gibernau, 34, is 12th in the standings and has not yet agreed a
new contract with the team for next season.
``In the next few days Ducati will decide whether or not to
replace him and, if so, the name of the rider who will stand in for
him (at the Valencia GP),'' a statement on the team's website said.
Valentino Rossi heads into the Oct. 29 race at Valencia looking
for his sixth-straight Moto GP championship. Rossi holds an
eight-point advantage over Nicky Hayden.
