Painful Silverstone race for Ruche Moodley
Ruche Moodley made a welcome return to the Moto3 world championship at Silverstone after missing the sixth round, having fractured the radius in his right arm in round five.
The 18-year-old Gqeberha rider was given the green light to race in the Silverstone Grand Prix by the FIM medical team.
'I was really happy when the FIM medical team gave me clearance to race this weekend, as I was really frustrated watching the French GP from my couch at home, and it's great to be back on the bike,' Moodley said.
'I have been training almost from the day I got back from the hospital, so I knew my fitness wasn't going to be a problem. But my arm was still quite sore.'
The weekend started in a positive manner as Moodley felt good on the bike and delivered competitive lap times, despite still nursing his injured dominant arm.
He had a steady qualifying session, managing his tyres and the pain in his arm to place his BOE Motorsports machine in 21st position in the huge Moto3 field.
He also had to serve a double long-lap penalty for his role in an incident at the Spanish Grand Prix, which resulted in the fractured arm, so he had a mountain to climb.
'Silverstone is such a high-speed circuit, both with long straights and fast, flowing corners,' Moodley said.
'It really is a physical track that demands a lot of riders. So, we had made a decision that I would stay out of trouble on the opening laps.
'If I crashed or was taken out, my penalty laps would be carried over to the next race.
'So, I took it easy at the start and dropped a few positions on the opening lap.
'This race, for me, was all about getting to the finish line more than anything else.
'I took my penalty laps early in the race, on laps two and three, as I figured the field would be most bunched up then.
'With those two laps done, I kept my head down. I had to focus on the track and getting to the end.
'I struggled later on because I lost a lot of feeling in my arm. It started to feel numb, so it was difficult to feel what the bike was doing.
'I don't have the strength that I had before to muscle the bike around, since I could only start moving my arm in the week leading up to the race. It was immobilised for three weeks and lost strength.'
Moodley had a rather lonely race as the front pack set a blistering pace.
He steadily worked his way up from 24th to finish 20th when the checkered flag was waved.
'That felt like the longest race of my life. In the second part of the race, I was pretty much on my own, just counting down the laps.
'I was trying not to think about the pain, I was really glad to see the checkered flag.
'The plan now is to build up the strength in my hand.
'I will be much stronger in two weeks when we get to Aragon. I am looking forward to riding that incredible circuit,' he said.
The Herald
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