Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Cameron Petersen is due to have surgery this week, after suffering a serious injury to his left foot during MotoAmerica Superbike Race One August 11 at Sonoma Raceway.
Petersen was racing for fifth place halfway through Motul Superbike Race One, and was well on his way to his season-best finish, when on lap 12 of 22 the South African suffered a freak accident.
“I just turned into the right-hander before the wheelie hill and had a little front end tuck,” Petersen told Roadracingworld.com. “When the bike popped back up it was just enough to kick my feet off the pegs.”
Petersen’s left foot got sucked back in between the rear wheel and the chain on the top side of the aftermarket swingarm on his CBR1000RR SP2. The unprotected chain then cut into the top of Petersen’s left boot and into his left foot, severing two tendons.
“I was freaking out at first,” said Petersen, who managed not to crash, before riding his Honda into the pits slowly. “It hurt like hell. I looked down and saw the boot was all destroyed and I could see the cut. I honestly thought my toes were separated from my foot, so I was freaking out at first. But luckily it’s not that bad. It could have been a lot worse. I got super lucky.”
Petersen said he plans to have surgery Wednesday, August 15 in Southern California at the hands of Dr. Thomas Bryan, a surgeon, track day rider and motorcycle enthusiast.
“He said the recovery time isn’t that long,” said Petersen. “[Racing in the next event near] Pittsburgh might be a long shot. I’ll try to get recovered and be ready for Pittsburgh, but I’ll definitely be ready for New Jersey [Motorsports Park]. If it had been my right foot it would be a different story.”
Petersen’s Team Owner Danny Walker, meanwhile, said he is planning to put some sort of chain guard in place so that what happened to Petersen can’t happen again. Walker also said that whatever solution he comes up with will be shared with the Red Bull Honda and Triple M Racing World Superbike teams, because they both run the same swingarm.