Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young is recovering from injuries sustained during the Barber test in Alabama in June. Young’s last appearance in the AMA American SuperBike series was at Road America, and he suffered a fractured L-1 vertebra in his back shortly thereafter. Young has been focused on physical therapy and healing, and is planning his comeback to the series soon aboard his GSX-R1000.
Young has visited several specialists both at his home in Madison, Wisconsin, and in California. Young has been active in his recovery, focusing on physical therapy and bicycle riding to strengthen the muscles in his back. Dr. Thomas Brian has been watching Blake’s recovery and says the prognosis for Blake’s return in 2010 is looking good.
“Lately everything has been going really well, and I’ve been back on the bicycle and in the gym,” Young said. “For the most part, I’m just getting anxious to get back on the bike. It seems like everyday I go to physical therapy I get to do a little more to test my limits and it has helped me refocus and think a lot about how to come back stronger from this. This is the first injury I’ve had that’s kept me out longer than one race, so it’s helped me really think about what my goals are and what I want to accomplish this year. Coming back, it’s going to be hard because I’m not contending for the championship, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win races and give it our all. I think VIR would be pushing it for a comeback, so I’m looking to New Jersey to be back on track.”
Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s team manager Peter Doyle is hopeful that Blake will be able to return to racing soon but isn’t putting a date on Young’s comeback. “I think it’s one of those injuries that you just have to let heal in its own time,” Doyle said. “We want Blake back 100 percent healthy so we can go out there and try to win some races full force. We’ll just have to take it a day at a time.”