Motorcycling: Dovizioso should be fit for season opener despite surgery

[June 29, 2020]    (Reuters) - Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso is expected to be fit in time for the start of the 2020 MotoGP season next month despite needing surgery for a left collarbone injury, his team said on Monday.

Mission Winnow Ducati Corse's Andrea Dovizioso during qualifying REUTERS/Heino Kalis/File Photo

The 34-year-old sustained the injury on Sunday following a crash while competing in a motocross race at Faenza in northern Italy. Ducati announced later in a tweet  that Dovizioso was due to have the operation in Modena.

MotoGP said this month that it will resume the 2020 season stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic with back-to-back races at the Jerez circuit in Spain on July 19 and 26.

Five circuits will host double-headers and Spain will have seven races as part of the revised 13-round European calendar.

Italian Dovizioso finished runner-up behind Spaniard Marc Marquez of Honda in the 2019 season.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.