Neukirchner nearing full fitness
Added on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Neukirchner nearing full fitness
Max Neukirchner claims that he is nearing full fitness as he resumes normal training in preparation for his first season with Ten Kate Honda.
The German rider has not raced since May after suffering from a broken leg in a crash that forced the restarting of the Italian round at Monza in round five and has since quit the Alstare Suzuki team after disputes with the team’s management, with Suzuki claiming that Neukirchner had not provided any medical evidence that he was fit to compete in 2010.
Neukirchner has continued that recuperation with the Ten Kate team but, after appearing in tests at Valencia last week, is positive that he will be fit and ready for the start of the 2010 campaign.
“My training at home is almost normal, the only thing at the moment I that I cannot run,” he said. “So instead I do a lot of cycling and swimming. On the bike I have no pain in my foot, but sometimes when I wake up in the morning there is some pain.
“My right foot was very destroyed and the doctor said that it maybe needs one and a half years more to build back up again. I have no surgical metal left in the foot, just a rod in my thigh, but that will come out next winter.”
“Overall I am really happy to be back again,” he added. “At the moment it is not easy. On the first day of the tests I was a little bit – not angry – but frustrated. The times were OK but I wanted more, I want more every day. At the moment it is not possible and I need more experience with the bike and team. But I do not lose any motivation.
“Sometimes it is not easy to always have good motivation, but it is coming back. Sometimes in the morning I might lose some motivation, then I have a beer in the evening and then next morning my motivation is better! But I think that is normal life. If you had a regular job in a company then sometimes you have bad motivation one day, then come back to work the next day even stronger than before.
“It is important also that we can have more testing and I think that maybe we can have one more test before the next ones in Portimao. Maybe; I hope.”
