Bradley Smith Injury Update
Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Bradley Smith’s participation in the final round of the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) for the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team came to an abrupt halt after the MotoGP-star suffered an unlucky crash towards the end of the Thursday morning Free Practice session. He was taken to the hospital “Städtisches Klinikum” in Magdeburg, Germany, for further examination and was diagnosed with a laceration to his right leg and ligament damage of the knee, but cleared of having a femur fracture.
Smith received an operation late Thursday evening and is receiving further assessment from MotoGP Doctor Xavier Mir.
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team and Yamaha Racing wish Bradley a speedy recovery.
The YART Yamaha Official EWC Team will continue their EWC title aspirations in tomorrow’s endurance race in Oschersleben. Team Rabid Transit’s Sheridan Morais will transfer to the YART team as a replacement rider, so the YART team will arrive at the start of the eight-hour sprint with a three-rider line-up.
Bradley Smith
“I had an MRI scan done on my knee, which showed some ligament damage. Now we are waiting for the specialist to give us some information, which is Doctor Mir from Barcelona. He is aware of my injury, is informed and was sent the MRI pictures. As soon as we hear from him, we will be able to put together the right procedure. The operation that I had yesterday was just to fix the hole in my leg that was caused by the impact. There are no fractures and we are using the MRI to check any other damage. Once assessed we will be able to plan my recovery process.”
Mandy Kainz – YART Yamaha Official EWC Team Manager
“What happened to Bradley has cast a shadow over this final endurance round. His accident was very unfortunate and we are very sorry not to be able to welcome him back for tomorrow’s eight-hour race, not just because we are in a fight for the EWC title, but also because the YART team wanted to enjoy and share this experience with him. We wish him a quick recovery and hope to see him back on the bike soon. As the temperature is so hot in Oschersleben at the moment and the track’s lay-out doesn’t allow the riders a moment of rest, it was decided that Sheridan Morais will join Broc Parkes and Marvin Fritz tomorrow for the race. We hope to put in a strong performance and most importantly to hear good news from the specialist about Bradley’s recovery.”