Image: Foremost Media.

A notable absentee from round five of the Penrite ProMX Championship in Warwick was Monster Energy CDR Yamaha’s Maximus Purvis, with Traralgon’s second moto incident resulting in two cracked vertebrae in his back, and a period on the sidelines as he recovers.

Finishing third in the opening race at the Victorian venue, Purvis would experience a crash during the second moto of the day, which would ultimately rule him out of contention at round five due to injury.

With an extended time on the sidelines, Monster Energy CDR Yamaha team owner Craig Dack said that there is the possibility that the team’s regular rider, Aaron Tanti, could return for the final two ProMX rounds.

“Maximus injured his shoulder in December last year, then broke some ribs in New Zealand, before hurting his knee in the lead up to Appin,” commented Dack. “Then in Traralgon, he cracked two vertebrae in his back, and has gone home to get fixed up.

“We’re playing it by ear at the moment in terms of what we do for the last ProMX rounds, but we might see Tanti back early, as it’s always good to get some gate drops to get back into the swing of things. He’s back riding now, but it’s something that we will play by ear over the next couple of weeks.”

It’s a tough blow for Purvis, who was drafted into the premier-class Yamaha squad after Tanti’s pre-season injury. This year’s New Zealand MX1 champion has shown speed at times, however, his season has been heavily impacted by a sequence of crashes.