Xaus out of Silverstone WSB
Added on Monday, July 25th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Xaus out of Silverstone WSB
Castrol Honda World Superbike Team rider Ruben Xaus has been forced to withdraw from this weekend’s ninth round of the championship at Silverstone due to leg and back injuries.
Xaus sustained leg and back injuries in a first lap crash in race one at Brno in the Czech Republic just over two weeks ago. Although initial scans did not reveal any major injury, continual pain in his back prompted Xaus to seek further medical advice last week, which revealed a fracture to vertebra L3. He expects to be fit for round 10 of the series at Nurburgring in Germany in early September.
The Spaniard will be replaced by Australian rider Karl Muggeridge, who last rode for the team in 2006. Muggeridge will join Alex Lowes, who is himself standing in for the Castrol Honda team’s other injured rider Jonathan Rea.
Muggeridge won the World Supersport championship in 2004 with the Castrol-supported Ten Kate Honda team and he contested the World Superbike championship with the squad in 2005 and 2006.
More recently, the 36-year-old from Tweeds Head on Australia’s Gold Coast has been racing a Honda CBR1000RR in the IDM German Superbike championship. He is currently lying second in the series in which he became champion on his debut last season.
After competing in the Brno round as a replacement for Jonathan Rea and scoring his first World Superbike championship point, Alex Lowes completed a two-day test at Assen last week on the Castrol Honda.
The 20-year-old from Lincoln in the UK completed 119 laps on the first day and, although day two was affected by rain, Lowes was delighted to have an opportunity to spend more time on the bike in preparation for the Silverstone round this weekend.
