Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yamaha’s Aaron Gobert plans to have surgery on his broken left hand and wrist Monday, June 9 and may race again as soon as the June 27-29 AMA event at Brainerd International Raceway.

“I plan on seeing (Dr. Arthur) Ting Monday and being operated on Monday (June 9) night. Apparently, I may be able to race at Brainerd,” said Gobert, when he returned to Road America Saturday afternoon.

“I pretty much punched my hand into the ground at 100 mph, they said. So the joint and all the bones around it took the impact. Luckily, it’s not too much of a joint fracture, but it’s in the joint. Both bones in the wrist and the thumb bone.”

Gobert said it had just started to sprinkle rain while he was riding his Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 during Formula Xtreme practice Friday, June 6.

“But the track wasn’t wet yet,” said Gobert. “I was down in Canada Corner. On the exit, the bike started to run wide, so I got on the gas really hard to pull the thing back on and run sideways at the exit. As I ran out wide at the exit, I must have just touched the white line. I remember going full-lock sideways, flat-out in third gear…I knew it was going to happen right then and there. I said, ‘Here we go.'”

According to eyewitness Chris Ulrich, who Gobert had just passed down the Kettle Bottoms straightaway, Gobert almost saved his highside at the exit of Canada Corner and held onto the handlebars while his body dragged along the left side of his bike. Gobert’s Yamaha then turned left and ran into an unpadded concrete wall, past the normal impact area. Gobert and his Yamaha hit the bare concrete wall and bounced back out onto the track.

The session was stopped to attend to Gobert and remove his bike from the track.

“The next thing you know I woke up in the medical center, people standing over me trying to put a neck brace on me, asking me my name and stuff. Apparently, I laid down there lifeless for a fair while.”