Mike Alessi is living, but out-of-action, proof that injuries are a big part of motocross and supercross racing success.
After turning 21 years old on May 19, Mike Alessi placed second in the season-opening motocross meet on May 23 at San Bernardino, California. He followed with his first-ever victories on May 30 in Sacramento and June 6 in Worthen, Texas.
Then, two days later, Alessi broke his kneecap in practice, of all things. He says it was a freak accident in which he suddenly found himself on grassy terrain and took a nasty spill.
Mike Alessi still has a bright future, but his route to the AMA 2009 motocross season championship has been short-circuited. He simply hopes to return before the 12-meet season closes on Sept. 5 at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pa. Steady veteran Chad Reed slipped into the season points lead after Alessi’s mishap.
Mike Alessi, half Italian and half German in heritage, is a tightly-packed 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds. He is especially known for his daring fast starts, leading to “Holeshot” as one of his nicknames.
Alessi started riding motorcyles when he was 3 years old and was a popular Loretta Lynn’s youth amateur champion. In fact, Mike Alessi won 11 junior races to tie a record established by none other than “James “Bubba” Stewart”:http://blogs.zappos.com/click.jspa?searchID=209582&objectType=38&objectID=4723 . Alessi then turned professional at 16.
This isn’t the first time that a practice injury has sidelined Mike Alessi. He broke a collarbone early in 2008 while he was warming up for a supercross event.
After the collarbone healed, Alessi suffered his only major in-race injury. In a July 2008 crash, he broke both shoulder blades and a rib, bruised a lung and suffered a severe concussion.
The summer motocross circuit now has lost three of its biggest names. Ryan Villapoto, Alessi’s up-and-coming peer and former youth amateur rival, has a torn knee ligament and Bubba Stewart is sitting out the season.
Mike Alessi still has star potential, but he has to learn to stay upright on his bike.
SOURCES
http://www.alessiracing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id...
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/events/raceschedule/2/mc/2005_ama_chev...