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Without Suzuki New Zealand’s Daryl Hurley there to keep him honest, Australian Craig Anderson was easily able to steal away with an unassailable lead in the Australian Motocross Championship at round nine of the series in Newcastle on Sunday.
With Hawera man Hurley a no-show at Newcastle, the Australian Honda rider opened up a 53-point gap at the top of the standings with only one round of the series to go.
Hurley aggravated an old knee injury at the previous round a week ago and he is now sidelined for the rest of the season. The 2005 Taranaki Sportsperson of the Year had led the Australian series since the opening round in April and, before the accident, had looked on target to successfully defend the title he won for the first time last year.
Hurley has now slumped to third in the standings. Hurley learned from his Auckland surgeon this week that he will have to undergo a full knee reconstruction.
This rules him out for the rest of the season, including the New Zealand Nationals and the chance of being selected to represent New Zealand at the annual Motocross des Nations, this year in England in September.
“I’ve lost the Australian championship now and will probably slip lower than third place now too. I understand I’ll be out for at least six months.”
The accident happened when Hurley clipped the rear wheel of his Suzuki team-mate and training partner, fellow Kiwi Luke Burkhart.
“Luke’s bike skipped sideways in a rut and I couldn’t avoid it. I just put my leg down to stop from falling and my leg was wrenched backwards. I knew something was wrong. It’s an old injury that has been aggravated. The pain was so much I just couldn’t carry on.
“That’s motor-racing. This is not the first time I’ve hurt myself and probably won’t be the last,” said a philosophical Hurley.
“Suzuki in New Zealand and Australia have been really good about it and are sticking by me. They are putting no pressure on me. I will make sure now that I’m 100% again before I ride and aim to be ready for the start of the 2007 season in Australia. I’ll be back, you can bet on it.
“There’s good and bad from what happened. Because I’m having the operation now, the surgeons will remove the screws from my previous accident. I won’t have any hardware in my leg. That’s good. It’s the torn ligament that will take the time to heal.”
Meanwhile, Hurley’s team-mate Burkhart will benefit from a little mentoring and coaching from the former champion.
The 22-year-old Burkhart finished in the top 10 overall at the weekend’s penultimate round of the Australian Nationals, despite crashes in both races.
After a minor incident in race one, Burkhart charged through the field to make up more than 20 places, demonstrating both the speed of the RM-Z450 and his radically-improved fitness after his own injury-enforced lay-off.
