Taylor Hammal devastated after Oss injury blow sidelines young Brit
By Andrew Hill on 21st Jul 21
Taylor Hammal will spend an extended period on the sidelines after suffering an injury at the Oss MXGP round.
The young Bike It MTX Kawasaki pilot qualified 23rd at the fourth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, held at Oss in the Netherlands. It was a slight improvement on the prior outing in Italy.
In the opening race, Hammal started in around 18th but a small crash briefly ended his push, before he regained ground to 16th. Another small mistake dropped him back to 27th before misfortune struck.
A small bit of plastic got wedged into the wheel, temporarily disabling the brakes. He crashed through the spectator barrier, dislocated his wrist, and broke his arm.
This season-defining blow will realistically put Hammal out for a good eight weeks.
"It was so unfortunate for Taylor for his incident. On the bad side, Taylors out, unfortunately, it's part of the sport. But on the good side, Taylor's showed enough skill and commitment, and professionalism that I'm still excited about the end of this year and next year.
"In just these four GPs, he's improved so much. I know in his mind he'll be preparing for next year. We come away disappointed about what's happened but we're all positive about the future, and he has the knowledge the team is behind him for his return and a speedy recovery, and the next two years.
Taylor Hammal: "Obviously pretty devastated with this weekend, definitely not the outcome I wanted. Unfortunately, I have a broken arm and dislocated wrist from Sunday. I'm gutted as I felt like I was doing well this year and showed some good results. Hopefully, I'll be back to do some of the last few GPs this year but going to take the time needed to fully recover and get back into it for the rest of the year but mainly focus on 2022."
Although Hammal will focus his attention on 2022, with the delayed start this year, it does mean he has a chance to return to action well before the Grand Prix season comes to a close. Teutschenthal in Germany could well be a realistic target in early October. If he makes that GP, there are three further rounds in Europe before the MXGP circus starts its scheduled flyaways.
However, it's unlikely we'll see him in action again in the UK with the ACU British championship wrapping up its series at Landrake on September 11. Hammal holds eighth place on 89 points, just fractionally ahead of Florian Miot.
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