Australian rider Mitch Evans is set to have further surgery on his left wrist, as his recovery from the injury he sustained at the 2020 MXGP of Spain hasn’t gone as planned.
The Team HRC’s rider, team-mate to Slovenia’s defending world champion Tim Gajser, had hoped to be racing at the opening round of the 2021 FIM World Motocross Championship in Russia (on June 13), but complications have meant his return to action had to be delayed and now the decision has been made to have another surgery back in Australia to completely fix the problem.
The world series continues this weekend with the MXGP of Great Britain, round two of the series, at the valley of Matterley Basin in Winchester.
Gajser got to the most perfect start in Russia, going 1-1 to secure the first overall victory of the season and start the year with the red plate on his factory CRF450RW.
While we expected Gajser to pick up right where he left off in 2020 after his title victory, for the Slovenian to arrive in Russia and dominate the way he did was just impressive, especially when we think about race two, when he came back from outside the top 20 to win the race.
He will anticipate another stern test in the UK this weekend, facing up to the likes to Dutchman Jeffery Herlings, Italian Antonio Cairoli, Frenchman Romain Febvre and Latvian Pauls Jonass, to name a few, in the MXGP class battles.
Meanwhile, Evans is philosophical about his situation.
“It was a really difficult decision to have to do this surgery, knowing that I’d be missing more racing but I knew that my wrist wasn’t 100% and I wouldn’t be able to compete at the level I wanted until I got it fixed,” said Evans.
“Now I’m back in Australia getting ready for the surgery and I’ll stay here until I’m ready to return to action, which hopefully won’t be too long.
“A big thank you to the team for their support and congrats to Tim on an excellent ride in Russia, I can’t wait to be on the gate alongside you!
“Also, thanks to my fans for their support during this tough period, it feels good that so many people believe in me and I’m looking forward to seeing you all at the races so I can repay everyone’s faith.”
Photo courtesy HRC Honda
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