Grand Prix Kawasaki Racing's Kevin Strijbos is almost certain to miss the next three rounds of the MX1 World Motocross Championship after undergoing minor surgery to repair an injured thumb
Strijbos sidelined with thumb injury.

It's been a tough start to the 2008 MX1 World Championship season for GPKR's Kevin Strijbos who has already been sidelined from racing activities with a pre-season shoulder injury and then a stomach related sickness. The latest ailment to affect the 2007 MX1 series runner-up is a thumb injury which he sustained in a free practice session at the Spanish GP in Bellpuig. Although in a lot of pain, Strijbos pushed on through the power-sapping slop on his factory KX450F-SR to an impressive sixth placed finish in Sunday's one and only points paying moto.

Despite being able to ride through the pain and score his best result of the season so far, the 22-year-old Belgian rider's injury is worse than initially thought and Kevin had to undergo emergency surgery on Monday afternoon to fix the problem. The simple procedure to reattach the chipped piece of bone was carried out by Dr Claes in Belgium while Strijbos was under the influence of a general anesthetic. Early indications show that the operation was a complete success but it's thought that Kevin won't be back in action on the GPKR Kawasaki until the British Grand Prix on June 1 at Mallory Park.

"It's been a tough start to the season for Kevin," said GPKR team manager Patrick Gelade. "He's already had an injured shoulder, sickness and now also a thumb injury which is really not so good for him or the team. We're now looking forward to having Kevin back to full fitness in time for the British Grand Prix in six weeks time."

Strijbos is currently the GPKR team's highest points scorer in the MX1 World Championship and sits in seventh place in the series standings after only two rounds but will almost certainly miss the next three races in Portugal, Bulgaria and Italy. The remainder of the GPKR squad as well as Kawasaki's other factory supported teams will be in action at the Grand Prix of Portugal at Agueda this weekend - April 26/27.