FUJIWARA FORCED OUT OF BRNO WORLD SUPERSPORT ROUND Winston Ten Kate Honda rider, Katsuaki Fujiwara, will miss next weekend’s seventh round World Supersport championship event at Brno, Czech Republic (15-17 July) through injury. The Japanese ace crashed his HRC Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade on Wednesday 6 July while testing at Suzuka in Japan, sustaining injuries to his lower back. Fujiwara is fully expecting to be fit for round eight of the series, however, which takes place at Brands Hatch, GB on 7 August. In the meantime, he will stay in Japan for further medical treatment and spend time with his family in Chiba. Katsuaki Fujiwara: “I am very disappointed to miss Brno, especially as I am second in the championship behind my team-mate Sébastien (Charpentier). I was looking forward to the opportunity to close the gap with him but it looks like that will have to wait until Brands Hatch. I have cracked one of the vertebrae in my lower back and the doctors in Japan have advised me not to race until it is healed. They say it normally takes around four weeks. I don’t remember much about the crash, which happened while I was testing for the Suzuka 8-hour race, but there was a bit of fire as well. The back of my neck was burned a little and I look a bit funny because I have lost some hair from the back of my head. Otherwise, I’m pretty much OK and I just can’t wait to get back on the bike.” Ronald ten Kate team manager: “It’s a real shame for Kats because the next race at Brno will be a level playing field for all the Supersport riders since we have not raced there before. However, I spoke to him this morning and he is in very good spirits, in spite of this disappointment. I’ve been very impressed with the way he has adapted to the new team and the CBR600RR during the first half of the season and it’s a pity that he won’t get the chance to race for another win at Brno. We are currently investigating the possibility of running with a replacement rider for the Czech Republic round and hope to be in a position to make an announcement on this early next week.”