Image: Foremost Media.

Empire Kawasaki’s Jayden Rykers will not compete in the remaining races of the 2022 Penrite ProMX Championship following a back injury sustained at round six of WAMX.

Rykers fell while qualifying in the event at Coastal Park when his footpegs and frame grabbed the up ramp of a jump, causing him to lose momentum and ultimately go front wheel down, head first into the ground upon landing.

“Initially I had lost feeling in my lower limbs,” Rykers explained to MotoOnline. “After a couple of minutes, that came back and then just some sharp back pain. Funnily enough at that point, I felt like I could continue to ride with the adrenaline, but once that wore off the pain started getting sharper.

“I stayed overnight at the Royal Perth Hospital and the scans came back clear. I was discharged the following day, but since then I have still been suffering quite a sharp pain in my back. Now I have gone to get second opinions, and I’m still in that process.

“As the team understands as well as Kawasaki, I could go and get drugged up and do what I call ‘participate’, but going to a national level race you don’t want to go there and not be performing at the standard you should be. That’s the decision made to withdraw from the final two rounds.”

Rykers is awaiting results from follow-up scans to better determine the extent of his injuries and define the recovery time. He finished just five seconds shy of the top five in his most recent ProMX moto at Coffs Harbour and is currently seventh in the MX1 standings.