Slaw Dog
Terrible news for defending MXGP champion Jeffrey Herlings. Red Bull KTM announced today that he has undergone surgery to fix a broken heel bone in his left foot after a crash on Monday in Spain.
Herlings had won the opening round of the Spanish Championship on Sunday before suffering the injury on a small and routine jump section of the former Grand Prix site RedSand MX complex near Castellon.
Footage of the crash was caught on video, which you can see below.
There is currently no timetable on a return.
Here is more from the team:
Herlings, 27, hit his left heel in the resulting crash. The Dutchman organised travel back to his home in Belgium and after consultation, underwent surgery performed by Dr Stefaan Verfaillie (who worked on his previous ailment in 2019) to insert several screws and a supporting plate to fix the damage.
Jeffrey, his medical advisers and the Red Bull KTM team will now oversee his recovery for a return to action when fully fit and ready to race.
Jeffrey Herlings: “We’re paying the price for a ‘nothing’ crash. I think I might have hit a small stone on the take-off and that put me over the bars. The impact was pretty big on my left foot and we needed to get it fixed the best we could. Big thanks to the medical staff for looking after me and getting my foot repaired, again! Also to the whole Red Bull KTM team: we’d worked hard for this 2022 season and the goal now is to be back and winning as soon as we can.”
Joel Smets, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Of course this is very disappointing for Jeffrey, the team and the championship. Trying to look at the positive side the injury is not as complicated as his foot problem in 2019. The operation took some time but everything went well and we hope Jeffrey can be out of a cast in less than two weeks and can even start some light training such as swimming and some other activities. Then we’ll have to see how he recovers to plan his GP return.”
The opening round of the 2022 FIM World Motocross Championship is set for Feb. 20 at Matterley Basin.
Main image: KTM Images/Ray Archer
