De Dycker out with neck injury‏

LIER
- LS
Honda Racing rider Ken De Dycker is sidelined with a neck injury for
at least several weeks causing him to miss the GP of Great Britain
and the Belgian Championship rounds in Balen and Orp-le-Grand.
The
27-year old Belgian had crashed heavily during the first moto in the
GP of Limburg, now more than two weeks ago. Although De Dycker’s
performance was hampered because of the pain he suffered to his neck
and shoulders he raced the second moto and took part in the following
Grand Prix in Loket (Czech Republic).

Additional
medical research earlier this week has revealed
that the former British MX1 champion suffers a crack in the L6 neck
disc. The impact also created excess fluid around the injury. After
consulting with, Dr. Demurie orthopedical surgeon at AZ Alma Campus
Eeklo, the decision was made to rest until the 30^th
of August. That’s when a new scan will be made and a more accurate
estimate for recovery and return to racing is possible.

De
Dycker had
a tough time at the start of the season, but he gradually improved
and climbed up to 8^th
place in the MX1 World Championship. Furthermore Keeno leads his
domestic series, the highly regarded Belgian Championship, in front
of Clément Desalle and team mate Shaun Simpson.

Ken
De Dycker:
“Every injury is one too many, but I was determined to fight on and
put in some strong races at the end of the season. In every
championship you’re facing minor and bigger issues. As I was
prepared to deal with the injury I’m really bummed now that I
can’t race. I was particularly looking forward to racing at
Matterly Basin and meeting my British fans. Unfortunately, there
really is no other option because this is a very delicate injury
that we have to watch carefully.”

Steven
Lettani, LS
Honda Racing Team owner: “On
one hand we’re all very disappointed that Ken is out, especially
because we felt he still had more to give this season. On the other
hand, I’m relieved we finally know what exactly is going on. For
any athlete, and particularly for a motocross rider, it’s hard to
evaluate the consequences of a certain injury. Especially
because you want to perform, regardless! So
my thanks goes out to the medical staff helping Ken and to Ken
himself for toughening it out under difficult conditions in Loket
and Lommel. The only priority now is to fully recover and regain
fitness.”