Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1528224
Roberts Injured O nlyFans American Racing's Joe Roberts suffered an injury during the second Moto2 practice session at the Australian Grand Prix in Phillip Island. In a chal- lenging session due to adverse weather conditions, Roberts crashed in the second corner. After being taken to the medical center for evaluation, X-rays con - firmed a fracture to the scaphoid in his right hand. Subsequently, Roberts was declared unfit for the remainder of the weekend, and the injury will require surgery. Roberts is expected to un - dergo surgery in Australia on Monday, October 21. Roberts will be unable to participate in the upcoming races in Thailand and Malaysia. Team Owner Eitan Butbul said, "We're obviously sad to see Joe sidelined by this injury, espe - cially after the hard work he's put in throughout the season. His health and recovery are our top priorities, and we're giving him all the support he needs to come back stronger. We have full con - fidence in Joe, and we're looking forward to his return to the track when he's fully ready." CN WIND IN THE P34 Joe Roberts will sit out the remainder of the Moto2 Championship after suffering a broken scaphoid when he crashed during practice at Phillip Island. Bimota to Debut New WorldSBK Machine B imota will return to the WorldSBK paddock in 2025 under the Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team banner, or BbKRT for short, and will hit the track for the first official test at Jerez on October 22. Running the same ZX-10RR motor used by teammates Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani in the of - ficial WorldSBK Kawasaki Racing Team, run by Provec Racing, the Bimota reflects the brand's own- ers, Kawasaki, while still trying to strike out its own identity. The Bimota KB998 uses a bespoke frame created by the Italians, while bodywork has hues of the Kawasaki ZX-10RR, but runs winglets on either side of the front fairing. The Kawasaki Racing Team's staff will all move to the Bi - mota by Kawasaki Racing Team project, with Kawasaki's official WorldSBK du - ties to be car- ried out by the Puccetti team that will field Garrett Gerloff in 2025. "Of course, there has been much work to do behind the scenes to get us to the eve of unveiling the new bike and test - ing on track in public for the very first time," said Team Manager Guim Roda. "To have Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani onboard as riders—plus the associated pit crews and support staff—means we can concentrate on the core tasks at hand, testing our new racing machine and accumulat - ing data across a testing sched- ule, inside the test limitation rules set by BWO and the FIM, reaching from tomorrow and across the winter. "This is a very new bike and will need our full commitment. We are very enthusiastic to be part of this fascinating project and honored to take responsibil - ity for making the new Bimota race machine perform on top as soon as possible. We have updated all our social media ac - counts, so we encourage fans to follow BbKRT and play their part in this exciting journey." CN The Bimota KB998 will hit the track on October 22 in the hands of Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes.