Serco Yoshimura Yamaha’s Ford Dale has been ruled out of the remaining rounds of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals after suffering a knee injury in South Australia’s most recent round.

The luckless Queenslander injured his knee during qualifying and then braved the pain to race on to eighth overall for the round at Murray Bridge.

However, further scans on the Sunshine Coast have revealed that Dale will require surgery on the injury.

“There was a sand section and I tucked the front a bit and my foot jammed in the ground and twisted and snapped,” Dale explained. “I could tell straight away something was wrong.

“I thought I broke my leg at first because I heard the crunch, after I got up I realised it was me knee and I got back on the bike and cruised around, just wondering if it was something bad.”

After seeking medical attention from the Suzuki Racesafe staff, the news wasn’t good after they told him they believed he had ruptured his ACL and Medial Ligament.

“I went to my surgeon Steven Lawrie on Monday morning and got an MRI and he clarified that I had done some damage to my knee,” Dale added. “We sat down and had a chat and decided the quickest way to get me back on the bike was a Lars ligament, which is an artificial ligament.

“Lars ligaments minimize the recovery time and will get me back on the bike as soon as possible so I can start preparing with my Serco Yoshimura Yamaha team for Supercross.”

Dale is confident the surgery will be a success and that he will be able to return to racing during the second half of 2011 in time for Super X.

“I know the surgeon really well and he’s done six surgeries on me before so I’m really confident for the best recovery possible,” he said.

“I have a rod from my ankle to my knee inside my Tibia, the rods in the way for a normal knee re-construction but my surgeon has worked a way around it.”

“I’m really disappointed because I know I have the speed to win. I wasn’t going that good overall but there were still lots of races and my speed was right up there.

“I’m really disappointed I don’t get to finish the championship as the remaining tracks really suit me, which would have been a really good advantage and I know I could have won a lot of races.”

After surgery on Friday, Dale will be in rehab mode, and despite not being able to run for three months, he is determined to be ready to put himself in as best position as possible for Supercross.

“I’ll be training as hard as I can with the things I’m allowed to do – cycling, gym and swimming,” he said.

“I’d just like to thank all of my sponsors for their support, Serco Yoshimura Yamaha, CarsRus, UNIT Clothing, Rockstar Energy Drink, SLY Underwear, Platinum Coaching Corporation, Skull Candy and Scott Goggles.”