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Gino Rea ruled out of Qatar World Supersport finale

Britain’s Gino Rea will not contest the final World Supersport round this weekend after a massive crash at Jerez last time out.

Rea started the Jerez weekend strongly, running as top MV, however his progress was halted when PTR rider Hikari Okubo crashed in front of him exiting the fast turn 12. Rea had to take immediate action in order to avoid hitting Hikari, sending him into the path of the fallen bike.

He hit the PTR machine at over 100mph catapulting him over the handlebars and into the gravel trap, resuting in hand, face and head injuries. The Londoner was fortunate to come away with only three broken metacarpal bones in his left hand but will not ride at the Qatar round following surgery last Wednesday.

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“I am extremely lucky to come away from that crash walking; as is Hikari. When I saw him slide off his bike the first thing I tried to do was avoid hitting him because if I did, it could have ended very, very nastily at them speeds. In avoiding Hikari, I had to go to his left which was on the gravel and his bike was sideways in front of my path. I couldn’t even slow down and I just smashed straight into it,” he said.

“It was such a fast crash yet it feels like it happened in slow motion. I looked at the bike and just thought ‘sh*t, this is going to hurt’. I hit it and as I was tumbling through the gravel I was like ‘yep this hurts’. I ended up against the armco, so I rested against it and tried to get my breath back as I was badly winded. I’d say it was a bigger and scarier crash than the one last year at Magny-Cours, mainly because of the speed and knowing what was coming.

“I feel so lucky to only break my hand with a few bruises on my body. I owe thanks to my protection sponsors, HJC Helmets, Damen Leathers, Impact Safe-T Armor, Gaerne Boots and Armadillo Merino.

“I will miss Qatar because the three broken metacarpals were quite bad and needed surgery. Mike Hayton did a fantastic job of repairing them so now I’ll focus on securing a competitive ride in 2017 and recovering in the winter period. I’ll be back stronger.”

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