PAULS JONASS OUT OF THIS WEEK’S FINAL 250 GP —JORGE PRADO CROWNED ALREADY

Pauls Jonass wants to be ready for his 450 debut next year, so he opted to start fixing his injuries now.

Reigning 250 World Champion Pauls Jonass has had to withdraw from the Grand Prix of Italy at Imola this weekend, the twentieth and last round of 2018 MXGP, to undergo surgery on his right knee.

The 21-year-old Latvian was advised to have a reparative procedure on his right ACL in the wake of his crash at the Grand Prix of Turkey earlier this month. Jonass decided to race with painkillers at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands two weeks ago to revive his chances of defending the 250 crown on the KTM 250SXF.

Despite his efforts to take the 250 title fight to the last of the 20 rounds and 40 motos this year, Pauls was regrettably forced to have the operation. He travelled to the renowned Ortema facility in Stuttgart and was under the supervision of Dr. Jorg Richter as the partially torn ACL was fixed without the need for a full reconstruction on Wednesday.

He is expected to leave the clinic in Germany by the end of the week. He will begin the process of rehabilitation and look towards a debut term in the 450 class in 2019.

Pauls Jonass: “After Turkey I had some tough times. The doctors actually told me not to race any more this year but I didn’t want to give up on the title so easily. I raced in Assen with a lot of pain and so went to see the doctor again afterwards and they said surgery was necessary. We came to Germany and had the operation yesterday here at Ortema and I’m very grateful for the work done by Dr Richter. The ACL was not completely torn but it was badly damaged. It is a pity to miss Imola but health comes first and I’m still young and want to think about the future. The focus now goes on my rehab and to think about getting back on the bike as soon as possible to prepare for MXGP.”