P26
WIND
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON
IN
THE
METZGER INJURED
M
ike Metzger, the man known
as "The Godfather of Freestyle," suffered serious injuries in
a practice crash at his house in
Menifee, California, on Saturday,
July 16.
According to early reports,
Metzger suffered a broken vertebra in his back and neck, broken collarbones, and a lacerated
kidney. Metzger has undergone
two blood transfusions and as of
Monday morning was in ICU.
Metzger crashed at the Sony
Ericsson FMX Jam
in Bratislava, Slovakia in June, fracturing 10 ribs, a collarbone, and his
scapula. Still recovering from those injuries, he had been
training with the
hope of competing in this month's
X Games in Los Angeles.
"He's in what they're calling
'critical stable condition' and I'm
sure he's going to be making a
Mike Metzger suffered serious injuries this past weekend in a practice
crash.
full recovery," Metzger's agent
Lucas Mirtl told espn.com. on
Monday.
BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS FOR HOPKINS
position for the
Oulton
Park
round, crashed
on the seventh
lap of the BSB
race that was
won by Swan Yamaha's Tommy
Hill. Fortunately
for Hopkins, his
championship
rival Shane Byrne only finished
fourth. The second leg of the Oulton round was
ultimately cancelled due to inclement weather conditions.
"I was doing nothing adventurous when I slid off at Lodge Corner. Our data-logging showed I
was 3km/h slower than my previous entry speed and I was in fact
braking lighter, but the front just
went away," Hopkins said in a
John Hopkins (21) leads the way before crashing
at the Oulton Park round of the British Superbike
Championship.
S
amsung Crescent Racing's
John Hopkins crashed out
of a rain-hit Oulton Park round of
the British Superbike Championship on July 17, but confirmed on
Monday, July 18 that he will race
as a wild card entry in the World
Superbike round at Silverstone
on July 31.
Hopkins, who earned pole
14-26 Wind.indd 26
team release. "Sometimes in racing that's just the way it goes. My
only regret is that we didn't have
that second race so I could make
amends. But I agree with the decision to abandon. I've still plenty
of positives to take away from the
weekend and I'm very happy with
how my bike and the team are
performing. We're still in a very
strong position in this championship."
Hopkins now trails Byrne by 32
points 214-182.
On Monday, Hopkins confirmed on Twitter his plans to take
part in the Silverstone World Superbike round.
"Been getting a lot of questions so just wanted to confirm
that myself, Jon Kirkham and
Crescent Racing will be racing
at Silverstone WSBK," Hopkins
Tweeted.
7/18/11 4:22 PM
