Husqvarna Motorcycles announced today that former FIM E3 Enduro World Champion and 2016 FIM EnduroGP runner-up Matthias Bellino has suffered a shoulder injury that will cause him to miss the 2017 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) and the remaining two rounds of the 2017 FIM EnduroGP World Championship.
Bellino suffered a fractured shoulder blade while training for the ISDE, and he will have to undergo surgery to repair the damage. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing expects him to be out of action for at least three months, which means he will miss the final two EnduroGPs in England and Germany as well as the ISDE in his native France. Countryman Christophe Charlier will replace Bellino in the ISDE, marking the first time that Charlier has contested the event.
Bellino, who made history as the first rider in history to a score a win in the FIM’s EnduroGP category when it debuted in 2016, had been working hard to return to form after another shoulder injury sustained just before the EnduroGP season opener in Finland.
“It’s hard to accept I will be forced to miss the ISDE and sit out the rest of the season,” Bellino said. “I worked hard to come back from my pre-season injury, and I was really motivated to keep improving my results in this final part of the season. It was just a slow-speed crash, but I immediately knew there was something wrong with my shoulder. It’s really disappointing that I’ll have to miss the rest of the season due to this injury.”
Naturally, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Enduro Team Manager Andreas Hölzl said that the team is gutted for Bellino, but Hölzl offered the following perspective.
“Injuries might be an inevitable part of top-level racing but as a professional athlete Mathias knows exactly how to work his way out and come back even stronger,” Hölzl said.”We all wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.”
The 2017 ISDE is set to take place in Brive, France, from August 28 to September 2.
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