Sidelined!
By TMX Archives on 14th Jul 05
It's been a very up and down month for me. It all started at Matchams which is just a short drive from my home. It was a hard weekend for me as I had to go through the LCQ which didn't give me a good gate position. It's been a very up and down month for me. It all started at Matchams which is just a short drive from my home. It was a hard weekend for me as I had to go through the LCQ which didn't give me a good gate position.My starts were better than I expected - it was the two crashes I had at the beginning of each race that disappointed me. I really wanted to win my home GP but I guess it will now have to wait until the Isle of Wight.After my disappointing results at Matchams I trained hard all week to prepare for the Italian GP. I was happy with my result there - finishing second overall but more importantly winning the second race and moving within eight points of the championship leader.We had a weekend off after Italy before the next GP so the team arranged a few days testing at a track called Plomion in France. Things were going well up until the last day. I had a small crash going around a corner which resulted in me injuring my hand and wrist.It's probably one of the smallest crashes I've ever had but I must have fallen awkwardly. I got straight in the car and headed to the hospital where I got X-rayed. There were no broken bones - just bad bruising and a sprained joint. I was in a sling for four days to help get the swelling down and had treatment every day up until I had to leave for the French GP.I really wanted to be able to score some points to keep me in the title chase - I had pain-killing injections in my hand and wrist all day on Saturday and managed to qualify. I missed practice on the Sunday to try and save my wrist a little bit then had some more injections before the race but it was no good and I had to pull out after 15 minutes.The following week I had more treatment every day to try and get it better before Sweden. It did improve a little bit so I decided to go and try to race. I wore a brace over my wrist and hand to give me more support on the big jumps and I got through practice and qualifying without injections. But after about 15 minutes in the heat race the pain was too much for me so I wasn't too confident about finishing the 40-minute races on Sunday. I went out for practice on Sunday morning, did two laps then went back to the camper where I made the decision not to race.It's a big blow for me because I had my sights set on the title this year. My goal is now to get my hand 100 per cent fit and come back and win as many races as possible.I'm having a scan to see if I have any serious ligament damage. Motocross can be very tough at times and just when you think everything is going smoothly it can turn round and give you the biggest kick in the *******s you've ever had.I've come to terms now with the fact that the championship is as good as gone so all that's left to do is get fit and come back stronger than ever before!Words by Swordy Photo by Sutty