Englishman Jonny Walker will miss this year’s event due to a leg injury.
By Hayden Gregory
The three time Erzberg Red Bull Hare Scramble champion has withdrawn from the race following doctor’s orders. Walker fractured his Fibula during the penultimate round of the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship.
The incident occurred during a low speed crash at Prague. At the time Walker was leading the championship so decided to race the last round in hope of clinching the title.
Since the SuperEnduro finale, Walker has been trying to ready himself for Erzberg yet further X-Rays identified that the Fibula was not fully healed.
“I really am gutted about not being able to compete at Erzberg this year.” Walker commented. “Both for myself and all of my sponsors, it’s such an important race – one that despite my leg injury I’ve been looking forward to for months. But I have to listen to the advice I’ve been given by my doctors.
“The simple fact is that the broken Fibula I sustained at the penultimate round of the SuperEnduro series isn’t fully healed. As disappointing as it is to be missing Erzberg risking possible complications would potentially only set me back further. The really frustrating thing is that I continued my winter SuperEnduro training programme in readiness for Erzberg. I feel fitter and stronger than I think I ever have.
“I’m still going to Erzberg, just not as a racer. I’ll be there supporting all the KTM guys as well as getting involved with some commentary duties, which I’m really looking forward to. My focus now is to give my leg the little more time it needs before I can start my on-bike training again. Then it’ll be all systems go for Red Bull Romaniacs.
“It’s been a really tough few weeks so I want to say a huge thanks to all of my sponsors for their understanding. I’ll be back racing soon.”
Walker will return to competition in early July for the Red Bull Romaniacs.
