“Where is Stefano?” I’ve asked myself that question repeatedly during the off-season and again at Daytona. And, when he name didn’t appear on any of the entry lists for this weekend’s round at Barber Motorsports Park, a phone call to the Mr. Mesa was in order, and long overdue.
“I crashed at Daytona last October and tore up my shoulder,” Mesa said. “I went into surgery, and they found three separate tears in my rotator cuff, so they fixed that. Plus, I also damaged my spleen in the crash, so I had to get that repaired, too.”
Mesa’s initial shoulder surgery involved the implanting of a system of hooks to lift his shoulder back into proper position.
There were complications, so he had a consulation with Dr. Anthony Miniachi from the Baptist Health Orthopedic Institute in South Miami, Florida. The result was that Mesa had to have a second surgery, which included repairing a complete rupture of his rotator cuff, arthroscopic shoulder debridement, subacrominal decompression, capsular release and RTC repair with a biologic patch and bicep tenodesis. In other words, it was complicated. Dr. Miniachi gave him strict instructions to give himself at least six to eight months to fully recover. “So, there went my season,” commented Mesa.
The ever-likeable Colombian, who lives in Florida, generally keeps a pretty low profile during the off-season, but this past off-season was different. “The injuries really set me back,” he said. “Not only the surgeries, but I was really down about the whole situation.”
Mesa has always been a survivor. He has built a very solid resume over the years by not only racing in MotoAmerica, but also competing in WERA, which he capitalizes on with the contingency money that the OEMs pay for racing their motorcycles.
Over the past few seasons, Mesa’s years of racing and noteriety attracted the attention of Michael Kiley and his team Tytlers Cycle Racing. He raced under the Tytlers banner last season in both Supersport aboard a Kawasaki ZX-6R and in the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship in the saddle of a factory-backed Energica Eva Ribelle RS electric motorcycle. It was “fire-in-the-belly” time for Mesa as his career was at an all-time high, until it became “pain-in-the-shoulder-and-also-in-the-belly” time after his crash at Daytona.
I reminded Mesa that he is a fan favorite, and we need to let everyone know what happened and where he is. Mesa appreciated the sentiment and the phone call.
He admits it’s a pretty big setback, but his entire career has been underscored by his many triumphs over adversity. “I’ll be back,” he said. It’s just going to take some time.”
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