The Prosecco DOC Czech Round will be the return of Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) after the Finnish rider missed the Emilia-Romagna and UK Rounds through injury. Tuuli crashed during the FIM Supersport World Championship’s visit to Estoril and fractured three toes on his left foot which required amputation following further assessments in hospital and ruled Tuuli out of action, but he will re-join the WorldSSP field at the Autodrom Most following the surgery and subsequent recovery.

Tuuli crashed at Turn 12 at the Circuito Estoril in Sunday’s Warm Up session, with his toes getting caught up in the chain of his MV Agusta F3 800 RR machine. At the time, he was diagnosed with an open fracture to the fourth toe and fractures to his second and third toes. He was observed in hospital and had surgery to try to fix the fractures but required further surgery to amputate the affected toes.

After recovering from the surgery, Tuuli was able to get back out on a bike for training while his WorldSSP rivals hit Donington Park for the UK Round and, now, he will re-join the field at the Autodrom Most providing he passes his medical checks. In a post on Instagram, Tuuli said: “It’s race week finally! After a couple of hard months, it’s time to come back to races, we have been working hard during the three weeks to prepare my foot and we managed to do a really good job.

“Riding feels quite good already, of course it is not going to be easy but so what? We are strong! I’m really happy and feeling amazing to see my team and people in the paddock! Thanks to all the supporters, fans and my closest people. without you all, the comeback would have taken a much longer time!”

Tuuli had enjoyed a strong start to the season prior to the Estoril Round after MV Agusta introduced a new bike following the new ruleset, with the F3 800 RR replacing the F3 675 bike. In the first five races of the season, Tuuli recorded four top-seven finishes and one retirement, in Estoril Race 1.

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