Da un comunicato ufficiale KTM Red Bull Factory Racing.
Jeffrey Herlings è stato sottoposto ad un intervento al tallone sinistro fratturato lunedì 31 Gennaio in Spagna quando il Campione della MXGP è stato catapultato in avanti su un piccolo salto.
Il pilota si è subito recato in Belgio e dopo un consulto è stato operato dal dottor Stefaan Verfaillie (che era già intervenuto nel 2019) per inserire diverse viti e una piastra di supporto.
Ci vorrà un po’ di tempo per sapere quando il pilota potrà tornare in moto.
Jeffrey Herlings: “Mi sono fatto male in una caduta banale. Penso di aver colpito un sasso sulla rampa. L’impatto è stato forte. Grazie mille allo staff medico per essersi preso cura di me e avermi sistemato nuovamente il piede! Grazie anche a tutto il team Red Bull KTM: avevamo lavorato duramente per questa stagione 2022 e l’obiettivo ora è tornare e vincere il prima possibile”.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings has completed a surgical process to fix a broken heel bone in his left foot due to a mishap while riding in Spain on Monday 31st of January.
The reigning MXGP World Champion, who claimed victory in the opening round of the Spanish national championship the day beforehand as part of his warm-up preparations for the forthcoming 2022 MXGP season, was unseated on a small and routine jump section of the former Grand Prix site RedSand MX complex near Castellon.
Herlings, 27, hit his left heel in the resulting crash. The Dutchman organised travel back to his home in Belgium and after consultation, underwent surgery performed by Dr Stefaan Verfaillie (who worked on his previous ailment in 2019) to insert several screws and a supporting plate to fix the damage.
Jeffrey, his medical advisers and the Red Bull KTM team will now oversee his recovery for a return to action when fully fit and ready to race.
Jeffrey Herlings: “We’re paying the price for a ‘nothing’ crash. I think I might have hit a small stone on the take-off and that put me over the bars. The impact was pretty big on my left foot and we needed to get it fixed the best we could. Big thanks to the medical staff for looking after me and getting my foot repaired, again! Also to the whole Red Bull KTM team: we’d worked hard for this 2022 season and the goal now is to be back and winning as soon as we can.”
Joel Smets, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Of course this is very disappointing for Jeffrey, the team and the championship. Trying to look at the positive side the injury is not as complicated as his foot problem in 2019. The operation took some time but everything went well and we hope Jeffrey can be out of a cast in less than two weeks and can even start some light training such as swimming and some other activities. Then we’ll have to see how he recovers to plan his GP return.”
