Ricky Dietrich Injury Update

Jean Turner | August 26, 2009

Reigning AMA EnduroCross champion Ricky Dietrich suffered a crippling blow to his title defense in Oklahoma last weekend when he injured his foot, forcing him to sit out the second round of the series. After following up with his doctor, Dietrich revealed that he broke a bone in his foot, and is expected to be out of commission for another two weeks.

“I broke one of the bigger bones behind my big toe,” Dietrich explained. “Nothing’s out of place or nothing weird’s going on. I actually crushed it and broke it under pressure impact.”

The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider went on to describe exactly how it happened. “Everyone thinks I did it on the video when I hit my foot. But it wasn’t during that at all. It was actually a straightaway before. I didn’t even crash; I was just wheelying logs. I was on my hot lap trying to pin it and didn’t take any time to set up for this final log. Just as soon as I landed, I was in a wheelie pinning it, hitting the next one. I hit it too fast and it bent my foot backwards. It didn’t feel too good. I knew I did it and I went three more corners and I was going to finish my lap. Instead of just backing it down or taking it easy, I tried jumping into this rock section like I’d been doing in practice and my foot did the exact same thing again but worse. It seemed like it moved so much easier because it was already broken or something. After that I pulled straight off.”

In the midst of defending his AMA EnduroCross number one plate, the multi-talented off-roader has also been showcasing his motocross skills, stepping in to fill the vacancies in the factory Kawasaki motocross team in the AMA Pro ranks where he has notched impressive top-five finishes. Dietrich was hoping to finish out the season with the team, but will now be forced to sit out the rest of the AMA Motocross Championship. The good news, however, is that he will likely not have to miss any WORCS races, nor any additional EnduroCross rounds.