Wyman will try out his KWR Ducati again at Pittsburgh this weekend
TUCSON, Ariz. (Aug. 11) -- Kyle Wyman will ride his Panera Bread Ducati Panigale V4 R Superbike this weekend for round 7 of the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, after withdrawing from the previous round at Brainerd International Raceway with lingering effects from his fractured elbow.
Wyman, who is now 8 weeks post-surgery, has been recovering while riding at races like Laguna Seca, just three weeks after surgery and winning the King of the Baggers race and championship. While this previous round at Brainerd was a further three weeks later with more recovery time, the injury was not healed and strong enough to ride the beastly Ducati Superbike.
Wyman's hope is that another two weeks of recovery will put the New York native in a better position physically to compete at what is essentially his home race.
"Obviously pulling out mid-weekend at Brainerd was a surprise and a major setback on our season," Wyman said. "But the past week I've seen some big progress in the strength and pain management of my elbow that did not exist a short time ago. At this point the bone is very much healed around the titanium plate and seven screws, but there are so many ligaments and tendons in the elbow joint that, along with the muscles, take a lot longer to heal and find strength again."
While not back to full-fitness, Wyman's current state should allow him to control the bike safely and put in a complete weekend, further developing the Panigale V4 R Superbike. The KWR team tested at Pittsburgh in May of this year, after the Virginia International Raceway round and has high hopes for good results.
"I will need to take it lap by lap, day by day," Wyman added. "But we've made some ergonomic changes to the bike and with the improvements I've made there is a good chance we can be in a position to fight in the top 5. It's been three rounds I've missed now, which sucks. After our test here at Pittsburgh in the spring we found a really good setup for this place so I'm really hoping to be physically in a position to make the most of it."
Find out how the weekend will play out by subscribing to MotoAmerica Live+. FP1 practice starts Friday, August 13th at 10:25am EST. Live coverage begins at 2:00pm EST. Both Superbike races will be LIVE on Fox Sports 1 (FS1) on Saturday and Sunday, both at 2:00pm EST.
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