Mackenzie out for three months

Kawasaki Australia’s Scottish factory rider Billy Mackenzie (pictured) will miss up to three months of racing with wrist ligament damage after a fall at round two of the 2012 Monster Energy MX Nationals in Coonabarabran (NSW) on April 15.

Surgery to repair Mackenzie’s injured left wrist was held on Friday, April 20.

“Obviously this is a set back. I’ve been riding well so far this year. I don’t have a bad conscious about getting injured because I was trying my best in the race,” said Mackenzie. I was in second place and going for the win, leaving nothing on the table. These things happen. I didn’t crash through lack of effort or speed; I just got caught out.

“It’s going to take a couple of weeks for the pain and swelling from the surgery subsides before I can start my training again.”

Privateer Dylan Peterson will deputise for Mackenzie on the Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450F until he returns, starting at round three of the MX Nationals in Wonthaggi (Vic) on April 28-29.

Meanwhile, in other injury news, HSE Motorex KTM team rider Ben Grabham is now recovering after sustaining a series of injuries in an incident while leading the Condo 750 over the Easter long weekend.

Grabham had just taken over the lead on day two of competition in the historic race at Condobolin before making contact with a pack of kangaroos at 160km/h, sustaining fractured vertebrae in the T4-T9 region, as well as fractures to his right radius and collarbone.

Bathurst-based Grabham was airlifted to hospital in Orange (NSW) before being flown to Westmead Hospital in Sydney for surgery.

It is anticipated Grabham will make a full recovery from his injuries, however a minimum of three months will be spent on the sidelines, forcing him out of his Finke Desert Race title defence in the Northern Territory from June 9-11.

Grabham will also miss the upcoming Hattah Desert Race, which is slated for Milder (Vic) from July 7-9.