Mike Jones to miss all Hidden Valley races

At first it looked like a quite innocuous front end lose during final qualifying as Mike Jones pushed to try and further his place up the grid but later investigations found injuries that would ultimately rule Mike Jones out of the remainder of proceedings at Hidden Valley.  Jones had qualified third but missed Saturday’s race as he was examined in hospital where he remains today ahead of hand surgery.

What led to Jones’ crash that damaged his hand was an earlier kerb-strike earlier that broke and dislocated toes in his foot.  Mike Jones is not the only rider to have copped a significant whack to the foot on the kerbs here this weekend, we know that Troy Herfoss, Yanni Shaw and Lachlan Epis are all smarting from similar impacts that resulted in varying degrees of injury after Saturday.  (At the start of race two on Sunday Herfoss then crashed heavily and was taken to hospital)

DesmoSpot Ducati Team co-owner – Ben Henry

“Mike is still in hospital, and will be operated on early today to repair some of the damage done, mainly to his little finger now. We sent him out to put in a fast lap time midway through the qualifying two session and as he was finding some great pace, he clipped his left foot on the kerb, breaking and dislocating his toe. Mike pushed on to set a fast lap but ultimately crashed due to the injury to his foot where he then damaged his finger. He was having a great weekend, the team is working really well together and I really think that we were in for a strong result, but these things happen in racing. We’ll know more about Mike’s recovery as the day goes on, so while he is being taken care of in hospital, we’ll concentrate on supporting Oli for the final two races today as he continues his own strong weekend.”

Mike Jones

“I’m really disappointed to miss this weekend’s three races. I was feeling great on the bike and came into the round really confident that I would be racing for the win in all three races, and right up until I eventually came off I still believed that. After I hit the kerb with my foot, I knew I’d done some serious damage, but I managed to push on, setting my fastest lap of the weekend, beating Troy’s (Bayliss) 2018 lap record (1:05.601) before I crashed. The doctors reset my toe yesterday, dislocated with two breaks, and today they’re working on repairing my finger. I’ll know a lot more later in the day about my expected recovery, so for now I’ll have to settle for watching the racing from the sidelines after they finish fixing me up.”

The loss of three significant points scoring opportunities is a cruel blow for both Jones and the DesmoSport Ducati squad with this effectively ruining any chances that Jones might have had to fight for the championship. It is also a blow to the series as in the rounds staged so far this year it has only been Jones that looked even close to getting on terms with the dominance of Wayne Maxwell and Troy Herfoss. Jones’s team-mate Oli Bayliss had already stepped up a gear this weekend and will now be the sole focus of the team for the remainder of their time in Darwin.

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ASBK Championship Points

  Manufacturers Points

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ASBK Hidden Valley Schedule

Sunday, 20 June
10:50am – Race 2 (16 laps) FOX Sports
2:05pm – Race 3 (16 laps) FOX Sports/Channel 7

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2021 ASBK Championship Calendar

• Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 Cancelled
• Round 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14
• Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18
• Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20
• Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
• Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
• Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
• Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *

Source: MCNews.com.au