Unlucky Harris To Sit Out Brands Meeting
Added on Friday, May 9th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Unlucky Harris To Sit Out Brands Meeting
Karl Harris is set to miss the rescheduled Brands Hatch meeting this weekend after aggravating his injury problems at Oulton Park last week.
Harris broke three bones in his foot at Thruxton three weeks ago after being caught in the path Tom Sykes’ flying Suzuki in an accident which brought the unofficial opening round of the season to a temporary stop.
The Rob Mac Yamaha rider left the crash scene in an ambulance although he avoided any serious injury.
The 30-year-old returned to action last week in Cheshire, recording some impressive lap times but tests later revealed that his efforts at Oulton Park had aggravated his injuries further and, on the advice of BSB medical expert Toby Branfoot, he has decided to sit out of this weekend’s round despite qualifying in third place.
The qualifying places achieved will stand for this weekend’s event, which was snowed-off in early April.
Karl Harris: “The injuries didn’t feel that bad to be honest at the weekend, riding in the wet was OK but I started to feel the pace in the dry.
“I have spoken with Toby and he has advised me that it would be a wise move to sit out Brands in order to regain full fitness for Donington at the end of the month. Obviously I’m really frustrated.
“We’ve had nothing but bad luck so far this season. The team has been brilliant and deserves much more than our lack of results show.”
Karl will now use the three week break until Donington Park on 24-26 May to rest and recuperate.
Rob McElnea, Team Principal bemoaned Harris’ early-season bad luck, adding:
“Karl’s run of luck has continued to a point where he is forced to miss this weekend’s rescheduled BSB at Brands.
“I cannot believe how the start of the season has gone for him. At Brands hatch he was on fire qualifying third.
“Then at Thruxton he looked like a sure podium until he was knocked off, and his injury from that crash has left him nursing a broken foot! He really has done nothing wrong to deserve this run and we have no alternative but for him to sit out the next round.
“Hopefully the weekend off and time before Donington should give him time to recover and start his season from there. Our championship plans have taken a hammering but if we can start challenging for race wins we will have to wait for the rest to take their share of bad luck weekends!”
