Jack Miller has broken his right leg in a motocross training incident. The Australian was riding at the Bellpuig motocross track in Spain on Sunday, when he landed heavily, fracturing both the fibula and tibia down near the ankle joint.
In a post on Instagram, Miller explained that he had been forced to shut off the throttle when another rider lost control on the up-ramp of a triple-jump. He had not crashed, but the impact of the landing had caused the damage to his ankle.
Miller was taken to the Dexeus Institut in Barcelona, where he was examined by Dr. Mir, and then had both the bones in his leg plated with screws. Examination after the surgery confirmed that it had been successful.
The injury to Miller does mean that his participation at the first test of the year at Sepang is in doubt. In a press release issued by the team, Marc VDS team manager Michael Bartholemy stressed the importance of waiting until the Australian was fit enough to ride.
Miller himself was more bullish about the chances of riding, posting on Twitter that the “right foot to ride is way overrated” and joking that he uses too much rear brake anyway.
The issue for Miller would be risking further injury, and whether he can put enough weight on the leg to help push on the pegs through the turns.
Normally, missing the first test of the year would be a major setback, but missing Sepang this year may be less of a problem for Miller. At the moment, it is unclear exactly what spec bikes the Honda satellite riders will have at the test, and the engineers will have their hands full just trying to get to grip with the new electronics.
There is a lot of base set up work that needs doing, which the Marc VDS team will be able to do with Tito Rabat.
The situation should be a lot clearer by the following test, at Phillip Island on February 17th-19th, giving Miller a better chance of being fit, and riding a Honda RC213V which is much closer to the final race-spec for 2016.
Source: Marc VDS Racing
This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.
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