News

World Supersport’s Jules Cluzel has undergone an operation at the Sant Juan Grande Hospital in Jerez following his accident at the Spanish Round last Friday.

The procedure took place on Monday morning. 26-year-old Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) has had plates and screws fitted to his tibia and fibula in order to stabilise the bone fragments and reconstruct the joint.

“He is obviously disappointed with what happened but has come to terms with the fact that, right now, the focus is looking forward to next year,” Team Principal Brian Gillen told WorldSBK.com on Monday. “He is being operated on today and will then begin the period of getting back together, getting back into shape and - if things go well - even getting back on the bike before the end of the year to do the winter tests.”

Asked to confirm whether Cluzel’s 2015 season is prematurely over, Gillen responded:

“With the type of fractures he has on his feet and with the operations that are going to be done, I think it is a little unrealistic to come back that quickly. It would be a risk of creating more damage and, if anything else happened, it could put next year at risk. Right now, all we need to do is: hit the reset button, focus all of our efforts and stay concentrated for next year.”

Gillen is one of several colleagues to have visited Cluzel in hospital. On Sunday night, the Frenchman also received a visit from title rival Kenan Sofuoglu.

“Jules is having a number of screws put into the left ankle,” Gillen continued. “At that point, the right ankle – which has a hairline fracture – is just going to be put in a cast and it should heal up correctly. After that, it is just a matter of how fast he can physically recover. You obviously have to go through certain steps. He will be doing some training in the swimming pool and then, step-by-step, we will see how it progresses. For sure, he can be competitive again next year.

“The latest information is that he needs to stay in hospital for at least 24 hours after the operation, for observation. At that point, he should be free to go home.”

The World Supersport title contender crashed his MV Agusta Reparto Corse machine in Friday Free Practice 2, rolling into the gravel trap.

Having sustained a fractured left fibula and open fracture of the left tibia as well as a dislocated right shoulder, Cluzel was transported to hospital from the circuit.

He had gone into the race weekend second in the riders’ standings and only 13 points behind championship leader Sofuoglu, having retired from only two races this year due to engine failures. At every other event, he had only ever finished in either first or second position, with three race victories and four second places to his name.

Cluzel was World Supersport runner-up in his previous two seasons in the category, while in 2013 he finished in the top ten of the premier World Superbike class, narrowly missing out on victory at Silverstone when his Fixi Crescent Suzuki ended the second race in second position and just 0.609 seconds behind winner Loris Baz.