McAMS Yamaha has confirmed Tarran Mackenzie underwent successful surgery on his fractured femur on Monday evening after his British Superbike Championship (BSB) title defence came to a painfully premature conclusion at Oulton Park.
On an incident-packed weekend of action at the Cheshire venue, Mackenzie - already on the back foot after falling out of Race 1 - came down on Lap 4 of the second race at the Hizzy's chicane.
Though a low speed tumble, the momentum saw him roll back onto circuit where he was struck hard in the legs by the unsighted Peter Hickman.
With Mackenzie having already suffered two injuries to his legs in two separate accidents during the BSB pre-season - the second of which forced him to miss the two opening rounds - doctors confirmed the incident had fractured his femur. Taken to hospital on Sunday afternoon, Mackenzie has now undergone surgery and will now begin his recovery.
"Tarran Mackenzie underwent successful surgery on his fractured femur yesterday evening and is hoping to return home shortly to begin his recovery."
Despite missing two events, Mackenzie safely made it through to the 2022 BSB Title Showdown with his three wins and six podiums lifting him from sixth to third in terms of podium credits coming into the first of three Showdown events.
However, his Oulton Park injury means Mackenzie will not see out the season and will therefore cede his BSB crown.
Reducing McAMS Yamaha's title hopes to Jason O'Halloran, the Australian is also on the comeback trail after being on the receiving end of controversial crashes at Oulton Park in Race 1 and Race 2 before sitting out Race 3. It meant the dominant force of 2021 went home empty-handed.
FS3 Racing release statement on the condition of BSB star Rory Skinner [Update: 26/9]
AFTER a scary crash in an already red-flagged British Superbikes race at Oulton Park, Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Racing has stated that Rory Skinner is up and about but feeling 'beaten up'.
The incident happened at Brittens, as the rain began to fall on the far side of the circuit. Rory hit the back of Suzuki-mounted Christian Iddon, and seemingly became ingested in the rear wheel of the GSX-R1000RR. Lodged between the tyre and the sub-frame, Skinner was locked to the bike as it eventually tumbled across the grass.
Immediately after the crash, Skinner was transferred to the hospital for a check-up, although as the Facebook post from FS-3 reveals, he's since been discharged.
The post reads:
'UPDATE: Rory’s now released from hospital following scans showing numerous fractures in his hand that require surgery. He’s feeling beaten up, but happy to report after a thorough examination the Skinner name will live on Heal quickly Rory & all others injured yesterday'
THE second British Superbike Championship race of the weekend at Oulton Park has been red flagged following a nasty incident involving Tarran Mackenzie being struck by Peter Hickman after falling.
It came just a few laps after McAMS Yamaha team-mate Jason O’Halloran was bundled out in a crash almost identical to a controversial incident that eliminated him from Race 1.
For now, the immediate concern centres on Mackenzie after he took a tumble on his own mid-way through the Esses, coming down on the grass to the outside of the first apex before momentum rolled him back onto the track just beyond the second apex.
However, with the pack still bunched, there was nowhere to go for Peter Hickman - already out of position after being overtaken into the corner by Tommy Bridewell - but into Mackenzie, albeit at relatively low speed.
Regardless, the heavy impact appears to have been made directly at his legs, both of which suffered injuries in two different accidents before the season, the most recent of which forced him to skip the opening two rounds of the season.
While Mackenzie was shown to be conscious in the immediate aftermath, he was in clear discomfort, prompting the race to be red flagged so medical crews could tend to him.
UPDATE: McAMS Yamaha has since communicated that Mackenzie has sustained a 'suspected broken femur'. He has been transferred to Stoke hospital for further assessment.
O’Halloran crashes out in cut-copy controversial crash
Though only five laps old, the first of Sunday’s BSB encounters brimmed with drama from the off when form man and championship leader Bradley Ray very nearly got it wrong into Turn 1 as he attempted to back out of pass for the lead on O’Halloran.
Making light contact with the sister Yamaha ahead, the OMG rider’s R1 briefly skipped as it caught its composure. Undeterred though, Ray lunged successfully at Cascades to snatch the lead and immediately began to break away from O’Halloran.
With Ray pulling clear, O’Halloran attempted to keep pace but as he climbed Clay Hill on the run to Druids, an overtake attempt by Tommy Bridewell at Druids led to the pair making contact.
Sending both wide, the two bikes locked together again to force O’Halloran onto the grass before barrelling into the gravel trap.
It comes little more than 24 hours after the Australian - Ray’s closest rival in the points’ standings - came together with Peter Hickman in an almost identical incident on the final lap of Race 1. Hickman was subsequently disqualified from the results, a punishment Race Direction mirrored to an extent by handing Tommy Bridewell a ride-through penalty.
UPDATE: Though he sustained no broken bones in the accident, a 'battered and bruised' O'Halloran will not take the Race 3 start.
Second red flag after Brittens pile-up
With the race restarted with a new 12 lap length and grid positions determined by the classification at the end of lap five from the first start, Ray held his position early on to quickly establish a huge lead.
Behind him, his OMG Yamaha team-mate Kyle Ryde pushed his way into second for a time before being overhauled by a charging Lee Jackson.
However, carnage was to ensure on Lap 4 when Christian Iddon and Rory Skinner tangled on the run to Brittens chicane while disputing fourth place. Triggered by Iddon's tight line defence of the position he had just taken from Skinner, the FS-3 Kawasaki rider clattered into the back of Iddon's Suzuki, which in turn led to the bikes swiping out Ryde's Yamaha up ahead of them. Glenn Irwin was forced off in avoidance but stayed upright.
With concern initially for Skinner after his leg was caught between the tail fin and the rear wheel of the Suzuki as it twisted across the grass, he has since gotten up on his feet and is walking.
In the meantime, the race was red flagged once again
UPDATE: Neither Rory Skinner nor Christian Iddon have been hospitalised and will not start Race 3; Skinner being checked for abdominal pain, Iddon for an isolated head injury.
