Christine “GZ” Giampaoli Zonca will need to undergo surgery on Friday to treat her broken foot. With the next Extreme E race not until 7/8 May, she will have over two months to heal.
GZ suffered the injury during single-car qualifying for the Desert X Prix last Saturday. In the session, her Veloce Racing car rolled after digging into the sand while turning left, causing the vehicle to flip onto its roof. After being taken to a local hospital, she was diagnosed with a fractured foot and discharged later in the day.
Hedda Hosås filled in for GZ in Sunday’s racing, where the team finished fourth in the Crazy Race.
On Thursday, GZ revealed in a series of Instagram posts that the foot was fractured in three places and the operation will take place the next day at Instituto Cugat in Barcelona with Dr. Xavi Vidal overseeing her rehabilitation.
“Tomorrow we will have surgery. Apparently the foot is broken in 3 different areas and if we want to be ‘ready’ for the next race this is the only way to go,” read the first post. “Thank you all for support and mainly to my team for everything they are doing @veloce_racing”.
She added in a follow-up, “a little bit nervous I have to say, but I know we have the best around us…”
Veloce subsequently released a statement confirming the surgery and expressing well wishes in her recovery. The team signed GZ for 2022 after she spent the previous ear with XITE Energy Racing.
The Desert X Prix, the first round of the 2022 Extreme E season, was unusually brutal for driver health. A day after GZ’s injury, Kevin Hansen of JBXE broke his T8 vertebra and bruised a lung after a strong landing on the downhill run in the Crazy Race. Hansen issued his support to GZ by tweeting, “Stay strong C! We’ll be back”.
