From a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

ROBERTS OUT OF DUTCH TT

Edenbridge, Kent – June 19, 2003:

Team Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Junior will not take part in next weekend’s (June 28th) Dutch TT, after doctors in the USA diagnosed more extensive internal injuries than first suspected.

Roberts, who won the 500cc World Championship in 2000 on a Suzuki, sustained the injuries in a crash in the Italian GP, on June 8. His hopes of being fit for the Catalunyan GP the following weekend were dashed by worsening chest pains, and he flew home to California for medical treatment on the eve of that race.

“It feels like I just crashed yesterday,” he said.

Roberts consulted famed surgeon Arthur Ting, and underwent a scan that revealed deep soft tissue damage to his chest and upper abdomen. He was ruled out of the Dutch TT, and although doctors suggested a further six weeks recuperation were necessary, he hopes to be fit for the following round, the British GP at Donington Park on July 13.

Kenny’s place on the 990cc V4 Suzuki GSV-R MotoGP prototype at the Dutch TT will be taken by Japanese rider Yukio Kagayama. Currently racing a GSX-R1000 Superbike for the British national Rizla Crescent Suzuki team, Kagayama will go directly to the Netherlands from Brands Hatch, where he is contesting a championship race this weekend.

A Suzuki rider since 1993, he already has GP experience on the 500cc two-stroke, with a best of sixth place in the Malaysian GP in 1998. Last year, Kagayama helped to race-develop the first version of the GSV-R MotoGP prototype in Japan, winning three All-Japan Superbike races.

“I hoped to race in at least one GP this year. The chance has come earlier than I thought – and I am really looking forward to it,” he said.

Team Manager Garry Taylor said: “We’ve worked with Yukio before, and we know that he not only tries really hard, but brings a positive attitude as well. We join a lot of other people in admiring his hard-charging performance in the recent World Superbike round in Britain.

“Of course it’s a blow to lose Kenny at a crucial time of urgent machine development. Luckily John Hopkins appears to be just about over his injuries from Mugello, and he not only raced in Catalunya but put in a day’s testing after the race as well. We know he will put in his usual 100 percent, while Yukio’s input will be another welcome source of data for the race engineers.”