Bradley Smith: “The bike’s fork leg went through the BACK of my knee!”
Yamaha Tech 3 MotoGP rider Bradley Smith could miss the rest of this season after a horrific crash during a practice session for the Oschersleben 8 hours endurance.
Smith was just days away from the British round of the MotoGP championship when he was involved in a sickening fall that happened as Smith passed a slower rider.
The Brit suffered serious ligament damage to his left knee and was airlifted to hospital and operated on.
Another bike ran over the Oxfordshire man as he was sliding on the grass alongside the track, and that bike’s fork leg went through the back of Smith’s knee.
He said: “Little did I realise when I was sliding along the track at the Oschersleben circuit in Germany, already thinking about jumping up and getting back on the bike, what the outcome would be.
“The next few hours are all a bit of a blur. A ride to the local hospital by helicopter, an operation with 15 stitches to close a wound at the back of my knee.
“Right now I’m clearer on everything and working hard to sort out what is best for the future.
“I was passing a slower rider when he weaved into me and knocked me off. As I was sliding along the track another bike hit me and its fork leg went through the back of my right knee.
“The result is that I’ve suffered serious damage to three main ligaments in the knee which will require surgery. I’m talking to the surgeons about when is the best time to have the operation because there is much to consider. Of course I want to be back racing as soon as possible, but I also want to be able to train properly by running and cycling which is so important for my general well-being as a human being. Also, I have to consider what is best for my current and future employers and so it’s a very important decision.
“I’m positive about the future and have to be grown up enough to accept that I’ve sustained a very big injury, but it could have been worse. Now is the time to move on and make the right decisions for the bigger picture.”