MICHELSEN ON ROAD TO RECOVERY

European champion Mikkel Michelsen is beginning his road to recovery after undergoing successful surgery on his shattered humerus and shoulder joint.

Michelsen suffered the injuries when he crashed in his opening ride at the OlyBet FIM Speedway GP of Latvia – Riga on September 7.

The Dane went under the knife last Thursday and will miss the remainder of the 2024 season, including the final Speedway European Championship round in Chorzow on Saturday and the Speedway GP finale in Torun on September 28.

Michelsen is now taking some time to heal before beginning his rehabilitation and he took to his Facebook page to give fans an update. He posted: “Hey Everyone, it has been a rough couple of days since the surgery on Thursday morning. I was discharged from hospital on Friday evening and have been trying to relax and recover since then.

“The surgery went according to plan and the surgeon was happy with the results. I underwent a four-hour long procedure where he fixed my shattered humerus and shoulder joint. Now it needs time to heal before hopefully soon starting some rehab. 

“The fractured elbow should heal on its own and, after scans on my foot, we found out that my heel is fractured as well. The road to recovery is long but there’s light at the end of the tunnel! 

“Once again, thank you so much for all your get well wishes, messages and calls. It means a lot. Kind regards, MM.”

Michelsen still has a chance of securing qualification for the 2025 Speedway GP series, as he holds the sixth and final automatic spot on 101 points currently.

Australia’s Jack Holder is four points behind on 97 after scoring two at the Deluxe Homeart FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens last Saturday. 

He needs at least five points to overhaul Michelsen for sixth spot. Should Holder score four, he would be ranked lower than the Dane on countback as Michelsen has achieved two fifth places to Holder’s one – both have a win, a third and a fourth place.

Polish international Dominik Kubera will also have the last top-six spot in his sights. He is eighth on 88 and will need to at least reach the final in Torun to have any chance of finishing above both Holder and Michelsen.

We wish Mikkel all the best with his recovery.