A week and a half after the accident at the TT Circuit Assen, Superbike rider Marco Fetz is heading home today, Wednesday. The ADAC medical transport service is taking the 21-year-old Bavarian from Groningen, Netherlands, to Kleinbreitenbronn.
Fetz was injured on August 15, 2021, during the first IDM Superbike 1000 race when he was unable to avoid Ricardo Brink, who had crashed right in front of him. Fetz was then struck by Philipp Steinmayr, who was riding behind him.
“I was in excruciating pain in my leg and immediately knew I had a broken thigh,” Fetz reports, adding: “At the same time, I saw that everything else was okay. I managed to take off my helmet and gloves on my own, then I passed out from the strong painkillers that were injected into me right at the track.”
Fetz underwent surgery on his broken right thigh bone at the University Medical Center Groningen that same day. An intramedullary nail now provides support from above the knee up to the hip. It is the same size as Fetz’s thigh bone and is held in place by four screws. The nail will eventually fuse with the bone.
While in the hospital, Fetz had plenty to keep him entertained despite being far from home. Team manager Benny Wilbers and the crew from Nordhorn visited him several times, bringing a basket of fruit and some candy. Ricardo Brink also stopped by the hospital, holding a balloon that read “Get well soon.”
Still, the Wilbers BMW driver is happy to finally be coming home. “The care at the hospital was excellent—I lived like a king there. But now I’ve had enough.” Fetz is looking forward to the homemade pizza waiting for him at home.
His IDM Superbike 1000 season is over. “In four to five weeks, I’ll be able to put weight on my leg again,” Fetz was told; he is currently getting around with crutches, “but by then it will all be over. It’s a shame that I’m out now, because we’ve been doing test runs as a team at the Red Bull Ring and Hockenheim of all places. At the Red Bull Ring, my lap times were closer to Florian Alt’s than ever before.”