Thomas recovers

Dean Thomas is slowly recovering from the injuries he sustained at Snetterton on June 18.
The Hawk Kawasaki rider suffered five broken ribs, a punctured lung and severely torn muscles in his back after he was T-boned on the exit of the Esses by James Haydon.
The Rizla Suzuki rider, himself suffering from a shoulder injury, overshot the corner entry, ran along the grass at high-speed and then back onto the track directly in the path of Thomas on the exit. There was a sickening collision, which left both riders needing treatment at trackside.
Thomas was discharged from hospital last Friday and is now recuperating at home but no decision has been made about his return to racing. Neither have Hawk Kawasaki discussed a replacement rider at this stage with the next BSB round not until July 16 at Knockhill
Team boss Stuart Hicken said: “We’re sitting tight for the time being to see how Dean progresses. He’s pretty beaten up. The lung appears to be healing well but he’s got such massive tissue damage.
“It was a sickening impact. We had to chisel metal from Haydon’s headstock out or our own titanium headstock bolts before we could dismantle the front. Another split second and Dean’s leg might have taken the full brunt of the crash. The crashed caused £28,000 worth of damage with only the engine left serviceable.”
Haydon aggravated the shoulder injury sustained at Mallory two weeks earlier and broke two bones in his left foot. The foot injury was expected to be immobilised for six to eight weeks.