Broken Collarbone Stalls Herrin's On-Track Progress

Josh Herrin’s debut Moto2 season has gotten off to the rockiest of starts. The reigning AMA Pro SuperBike champion crashed unhurt out of rounds 1 and 2 in Qatar and Texas, and last Thursday, he fell again riding supermoto at his personal track in Georgia, fracturing his left collarbone in two places.

On Monday, the 23-year-old Caterham Moto Racing Team rider had the damage surgically repaired in California. As a result of the injury, Herrin will miss Sunday’s Grand Premio Red Bull de la Republica Argentina at the new Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo, as well as the following round a week later in Jerez, Spain.

Herrin’s teammate, Johann Zarco, who also failed to score points at the Losail Circuit and Circuit of The Americas, will be the sole Caterham rider on track in Argentina. “We won’t be replacing Josh for this race,” said team manager Johan Stigefelt in a press release, “but we’ll make another announcement about Jerez soon.

“We want Josh back on track as soon as he is fit and well. Now we will focus 100 percent on Johann. After an unsuccessful end to the GP in Austin, it’s even more important that we get a good result in Argentina.”

In an email, Herrin explained the accident. “One of my friends crashed in front of me,” he said, “and I didn’t have enough time to miss him. I was only going about 10 mph, but I hit the ground just right to snap it.”

An X-ray released by the team showed previous damage to the same bone. “That was a TightRope system that Dr. [Thomas] Bryan had put in at the end of 2012 for a separated shoulder,” Herrin said. “When I fell last week, it actually broke the bone right where the holes were drilled, so they had to remove the material from the last surgery.”

Herrin expects to be sidelined for at least a month. “We are hoping to make it to the French GP,” he said, referring to the race scheduled for May 18 at Le Mans. “Neither the team nor I want to rush the healing process and make it worse with another crash.”


Story courtesy of Cycleworld.com