Ting: Doohan should be 100% in six months

Five time world champion Mick Doohan's surgeon, Dr. Art Ting, says that he expects Doohan to make a full recovery from his Spanish Grand Prix crash. This comes on the heels of strong rumors that Doohan is considering retirement.

Ting said today from his Northern California clinic, where he has worked on many riders, including Eddie Lawson, John Kocinski and most recently Yamaha's Tommy Hayden, that although Doohan's injuries were fairly severe, he expects that Doohan will be 100% within six months.

"Mick's grip strength is coming back," Ting stated this afternoon, "and things are progressing. He rode a little at Phillip Island but that wasn't a racing situation. This is taking some time, it's not anything to be concerned about. I'd say he'll be back to 100% within six months."

Doohan recently had surgery on his knee to reconstruct it, much like Colin Edwards had done a few years back. "That was something we've known about and it had been irritating him, (Doohan) so we decided the time was right to fix it," said Ting.

Ting stated that with the recent operation on Doohan's knee and the removal of a plate from his right tibia, it is very doubtful that Doohan will ride this season. "He's convalescing and will probably not be racing or testing soon. He's going to stay here in California for another week, and after that I have no idea what his plans are."

When asked if he was surprised at the length of time it seemed to be taking for Doohan to recover, Ting said he was not, but was frankly surprised Doohan was not killed in the crash.

"I'm surprised that he's alive. His crash was very bad and extremely violent. This is going to take some time."

--Dean Adams