Danish champion Anders Thomsen hopes one of the world’s top hand surgeons can help him overcome years of pain ahead of his FIM Speedway Grand Prix comeback in 2025.
Thomsen jets to Spanish capital Madrid, where Dr Francisco del Piñal will operate on the Vojens and Gorzow rider’s clutch hand on Monday.
The left hand was damaged in crashes in 2013, 2016 and 2023. After initially hurting it during a meeting at Vojens in 2013, Thomsen suffered further damage in a Speedway European Championship round at Rybnik in 2016. He then sustained season-ending injuries when he crashed at the 2023 OlyBet FIM Speedway GP of Latvia – Riga and was unable to retain his SGP place for 2024.
Despite all of these setbacks, Thomsen has still emerged as a full-time Speedway GP rider, racing in the series full-time from 2021 until 2023, before regaining his SGP status with second place at the FIM SGP Challenge in Pardubice on October 4. He has also won three Danish Championships, as well as the 2022 FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Gorzow.
Thomsen admits he has been racing with pain for much of this time and hopes a surgeon who has treated Formula 1 drivers and MotoGP stars can help him go into 2025 pain free.
Thomsen said: "After my surgery in 2013, it was good. There wasn’t that much pain. I had a normal life. But then I crashed in Rybnik and dislocated my whole hand from the arm. They stitched back all the ligaments and put all the bones in the hand in the right position.
“It was a really bad one again in Riga last year. I dislocated all the bones again and it was the same with the ligaments. This time I needed a specialist – the best in the world to fix it and allow me to get to the top and race without pain. This year I raced with a lot of pain.
“After 2016, I had a big operation and spent a long time doing rehab. I lost a lot of movement in my hand. After last year’s crash, I nearly have a stiff hand. The hand is really important and it’s the clutch hand. You can’t believe how much rehabilitation I had to do throughout the whole of last winter to get back in shape. I had no muscle, no movement, no nothing.”
Thomsen admits Del Piñal comes highly recommended. He added: “He has worked with some really big names.
“I originally spoke to a guy in Warsaw, who is one of the best surgeons in Poland for hands. When I went to him, he said, ‘Anders, I could do it, but I know a guy who is better than me. If I was honest with you, I would say that you should go to Spain.’
“I didn’t know how to get in contact with the surgeon in Madrid, but the guy in Warsaw learned under him. He sent an email for me, so that I could get in touch.
“When I spoke to the doctor, he told me he has done this surgery many times before. He knows exactly what to do. He says I will be good again and good to race at the start of the season.”
It’s far from unusual to see speedway riders racing through the pain barrier, and Thomsen admits he has had to stay positive throughout his battles with the hand to continue his progress on the track.
“If you think too much about bad things, it’s going to be bad,” he said. “Think positive and take it with a smile. If you are not thinking about it, it’s not really pain. Of course, the pain is there, but if you don’t think about it, it gets better.
“I was just fully focused on doing my job and racing. But I can’t wait to race next year without pain. I am sure it will be better.
“The plaster will be on the hand for six weeks. After that, I start the rehab. They have promised me for 100 percent that I will be back just as strong for the start of March. But it’s going to be a winter with a lot of rehab and exercise to get myself in shape. There’s no holiday this year!”