Lafferty Update

Kit Palmer | February 19, 2004

The following is a release from the KTM racing department –

As most of you already know, Mike injured his left knee at the National Enduro in Arizona on 2/8/04. His original injury had actually happened on New Years Day near his home in New Jersey while preparing for the upcoming season. At that time he had a MRI done and it was determined that he had torn his ACL and slightly damaged his MCL.

At that time it was decided that if he had surgery, he would be out long enough that any chance for a championship would be gone. So Mike elected to do some additional strengthening exercises and see if it was possible to race competitively.

At the first GNCC in Texas his knee felt fine but some suspension problems forced him out of the event. At the opening round of National Enduro Series in Arizona, Mike caught his foot in a rut, part way through the first loop re-injuring his knee.

Mike flew home that day so that his specialist could examine him on Monday. After another MRI, Mike was found to have some additional damage to his MCL. At that point it was decided that since he had already DNFed the first round of each series that it was time to get his knee fixed correctly.

Since that time, Mike has been doing rehab to reduce swelling and increase his range of motion to better prepare him for surgery on March 3rd.

We will have Mike’s transporter and race bike on display at the Florida GNCC, Alligator Enduro and Georgia GNCC to offer fellow KTM riders set up tips and technical assistance.

Mike’s plan is to attend the National Enduros in Georgia and New Jersey to sign autograph’s and have his race bike on display. Then it will just be rehab, rehab, and more rehab for the next four months for an estimated return to racing in late July or early August.

We will continually update his progress through out the next several months.