Three kilos lost, hospital instead of Sachsenring – Contaminated chicken cost Enea Bastianini his race weekend – He tells the whole story
Last weekend, Enea Bastianini was unable to travel to the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. He had been feeling ill for days, had a fever and eventually had to go to hospital. There he was diagnosed with appendicitis. It was treated with antibiotics so that surgery was not necessary.
A week later, the Italian returned to action at the Czech Grand Prix in Brno. On Thursday, he appeared to be in good health and told the media how he had really been feeling over the past week.
“Yes, I’m more or less fine now,” said the Italian, breathing a sigh of relief. “It was very complicated because, in the end, after lots of tests, it turned out that I had a bacterial infection. The bacteria is called Campylobacter. And I got it from chicken.“
”Well, I ruined my weekend with chicken,“ Bastianini sighs. He had already been feeling unwell in the days leading up to his planned trip to the Sachsenring. His symptoms became increasingly dramatic until he was finally admitted to hospital.
”My appendix was badly inflamed. My whole body was inflamed. When they pressed on my stomach, they could feel a large accumulation of fluid. My stomach looked like I was pregnant. It was strange.“
”I was sure it wasn’t a virus or anything like that. I had a feeling it had to be something else – and that’s exactly what it was.” The inflammation has now subsided. An appendectomy will not be necessary in the near future.
Physically, the Tech3 KTM team rider feels fine, but he is still weak, of course: “I didn’t drink or eat anything for three days. The real problem is that I’ve lost so much weight.”
“I lost more than three kilograms over the weekend. I tried to train a little before I came here, including yesterday. Overall, I feel fine. The feeling during the last practice session yesterday wasn’t too bad. But I’m not at 100 percent yet.”
Nevertheless, Bastianini expects to be able to compete in the entire weekend in Brno: “Yes, I’m confident about that. Probably the hardest part will be Sunday, the long race after a week without training.”
“It would be good to start slowly with energy consumption – not use too much energy on Friday and then a little more on Saturday and Sunday. But to be honest, I don’t know how my body will react over the weekend.”
With Brno back on the calendar for the first time in five years, Bastianini is one of several MotoGP rookies. But the track suits him. He won the Moto2 race there in 2020: “Yes, I’m very curious to see how my first contact with MotoGP in Brno will feel.”
“In the past, it was one of my favorite tracks. I think the first impression will be very positive. I spoke to a few guys who tested here beforehand. They said the grip is very good. We’ll see.”
His Tech3 teammate Maverick Vinales will sit out this weekend after shoulder surgery. KTM has nominated Pol Espargaro as his replacement for the Czech Republic.
