Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

When Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jamie Stauffer showed up to practice at VIR, he revealed that he had broken the scaphoid bone in his right wrist at Mid-Ohio and had undergone surgery to pin the bone.

“I crashed on the last lap of the Supersport race at Mid-Ohio,” said Stauffer after Supersport practice at VIR. “I was racing with Alex Gobert, and I touched the generator cover down in turn two.”

Stauffer was seen at a local hospital near Mid-Ohio immediately after the crash, but it took a follow-up examination by famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. Arthur Ting in California to correctly diagnose the Australian racer’s injury. Stauffer had the fracture surgically pinned July 29 and had his wrist placed in a cast, which he wore until August 26.

“I went to see Ting this Tuesday. He re-examined the break and took the cast off. He said if I could ride with a brace, I could ride,” said Stauffer, who was wearing a small wrist brace during Friday morning Supersport practice at VIR.

Few people knew of Stauffer’s injury until he arrived at VIR in his splint. In fact, Stauffer’s own teammates only learned of the injury when he did not show up at recent test sessions.