Roger Hayden crashed his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike during testing Thursday, September 11 on the Lightning Course at New Jersey Motorsports Park and suffered a separated right shoulder, but in spite of the injury he said he is still planning to try to ride during the AMA Pro Superbike season finale this coming weekend at NJMP .
“I made a little bit of a mistake going into the last corner. I saved it, but I ran off,” Hayden told Roadracingworld.com Friday. “The guardrail was pretty close, and I didn’t have any choice and had to jump off the bike. I rode a little longer, but my shoulder started hurting worse and worse. I couldn’t take my glove off. Afterward, I couldn’t put my shirt on without help. So I knew something wasn’t right. I went to the hospital to get my shoulder looked at, and they said it had a separation in the AC joint.”
Hayden has six podium finishes in nine AMA Pro Superbike races so far this season and is currently third in the point standings with a shot at finishing runner-up in the Championship, but this injury may prevent him from finishing the season as strong as he would have liked.
“It’s just disappointing because at the last two tests I’ve been riding better than I have all year,” said Hayden. “I felt awesome on the bike. I’m just beyond disappointed. But I’m still going to try to ride this weekend to see what I can do. Hopefully, it feels better on the bike than it does now.”