Canadian superbike racer Dan Kruger has been injured badly in a crash at the Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race last weekend.
This news is coming a bit late, but we only heard last night, as we didn’t get our regular post-race update from Dan’s team. We missed his name in the post-race results — understandably, given the accident — and only saw this update yesterday.
Kruger wasn’t racing for Penz13 at Suzuka; he was riding for Team JP & Take Up Canada. He high-sided in the second free practice last weekend, suffering a punctured lung, damaged ribs and hand, a broken collarbone and head injuries. We’re not sure how serious the head injuries are, but this week, he posted that a neurologist at Nagoya Hospital in Japan had cleared him to fly home. According to his Facebook page:
“It sounds like things are going to get a little worse before they get better in the recovery process which is normal for this type of head injury.
He will then start the rehab process for the rest of his injuries. He will be 100 percent but it will just take time. Dan wants to thank everyone that has reached out to him over the past 4 days and it has helped him through this. Especially the medical team in Nagoya.”
This crash will put the rest of Kruger’s season in doubt. He was supposed to do the Frohburg road race with Penz13 in coming weeks, and that doesn’t sound likely now. He was sitting in third in the Pan Delta series in China, with the possibility of moving up the rankings, but that won’t happen now unless he recovers.
It’s tough luck for Kruger, who seems to take one step forward, two steps back, every racing season. Last summer, he was barely able to make it to the Macau GP due to injury. This year, even the Pan Delta series looks up in the air at this point. Here’s hoping a quick recovery lets him get back on track soon, to continue pursuing a successful career.
[…] Dan Kruger managed to make it to the event, despite his injuries earlier this season at Suzuka, but ended with a […]
Get well Bro
Hope recovery is 100%. On another note, not making it to Macau was a blessing in disguise.
@MTHighway Sad.
Get well soon DK !