Team Suzuki's Kevin Strijbos will not travel to Sevlievo for the Grand Prix of Bulgaria and the eighth round of the FIM MX1 World Championship this weekend. The 21 year old's injured left knee requires further rehab and he has been ruled out the trip to south east Europe.
The Portuguese Grand Prix winner saw specialists yesterday (Wednesday) in Belgium and with continued bleeding inside the joint as result of the small cartilage operation almost two weeks ago has been ordered to rest for three days with a check-up planned for next Monday.
Strijbos attempted the French Grand Prix at St Jean d'Angely last weekend and finished outside of the points in the first moto before deciding with the team not to start the second race. "I am in a position now where I just have to rest to let my knee heal," he said. "I have to keep my leg straight for three days, no walking, and then I will go back to the doctors on Monday. He will either let me resume some gentle training or I will have an operation. If I need more surgery then the Grand Prix of Sweden could be doubtful. I just want to get my leg healthy again now and that is the most important thing if I want to think about racing to anywhere near my potential."
"This could be a short story or it could be a long one and we will not know until next week," said team principal Sylvain Geboers. "The most important thing for us is his health. We want Kevin to come back and race like 'Kevin Strijbos' not as a rider struggling at the back of the field."
