Max Anstie is already counting down the days to getting back on his bike. And the great news is that could come much sooner than anyone could have hoped with the popular British pilot already back on his feet.
Unless you’ve been stranded on desert island for the past two weeks or so you’ll know that Anstie was involved in a horror crash at the Motocross of Nations, which resulted in injuries to his back, shoulder and more significantly, a broken neck.
“I’m getting a lot more mobile and I’m in good spirits,” Max told TMX, adding: “I’m making quick improvements and all things considered I’m doing pretty well.”
When it came to the question of getting his leg back over the bike Anstie appeared to be bullish with his predictions. “It’s amazing, I think I could be back on a bike in six weeks although I’m not in any rush.”
And it sounds like the Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki rider is right to be optimistic after breaking his T3, T4 and C6, as Max explains: “The doctor’s really pleased and very positive. It’s just broken bones, nothing more.”
Unsurprisingly, Anstie has no memory of the MX2 qualification crash in Ernee when Team Austria rider, Pascal Rauchenecker landed on him. Telling TMX he wasn’t able to work out what race he was at. “I could hear them speaking French but I knew I’d already done the French GP.”
Getting injured while racing for his country came at great cost to both Anstie and the DRT Kawasaki crew, with Anstie unable to compete at the final round of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship the following week at the Doncaster FatCat circuit.
But Anstie holds no ill feeling towards Steven Lenoir, who pulled back a 44-point deficit to win the MX2 title. “That’s just the way it goes but Steven was the most consistent guy there and he did a great job.”
Anstie hasn’t ruled out another run at the Maxxis series if given the opportunity again but with his rumoured move to Husqvarna for 2016 still unconfirmed we’ll need to wait and see if that comes next term.
