Superbike rookie Twan Smits has been injured. It is now uncertain whether the 21-year-old Dutch rider from Team Apreco will be able to compete at the season opener of the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) in Oschersleben in May. Yamaha is therefore scrambling to find a replacement.
Before the start of the IDM, Twan Smits had planned to compete in the season opener of the FIM Endurance World Championship at Le Mans. But now he has to skip it all. During a test as part of the Yamaha Riding Experience in Croatia, “El Raketo” took a hard fall and suffered a fracture in his left wrist. According to the medical team at Rotterdam University Hospital and the physical therapists at ToThePoint, surgery is not necessary—however, Smits will have to wear a splint for four to five weeks.
The focus is now on his recovery. The goal is to be fit for the start of the IDM Superbike season: “I’m extremely disappointed to have to miss the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After our successful tests in Aragón and Valencia, I was confident of a top-8 finish at the IDM opener. Now I’m losing valuable testing time,” says a disappointed Smits. Instead of the Dutch rider, his IDM teammate Lennox Lehmann will now drive the 24 Hours of Le Mans for MotoBox Kremer.
Wim Vermeulen, Marketing Manager at Yamaha Racing, added the following regarding Smits’ crash: “At Yamaha’s request, Twan Smits and Lennox Lehmann participated in a customer event in Rijeka, where we used two new Yamaha R1 race bikes. One of the goals was to directly compare two suspension and tire suppliers. Both riders stated that they were riding at about 80% of their capacity. Twan’s crash on Sunday was initially classified as a classic ‘highside’—that is, a riding error. But since Twan has no active memory of the accident, we thoroughly analyzed the data and the motorcycle. Result: A faulty sensor put the bike into safety mode and abruptly cut engine power—at the exact moment Twan was calling on 45% power while leaning at a 50-degree angle. However, the system briefly delivered full power, which led to the crash. The error appears to be an isolated incident—we are continuing to investigate the cause in detail.”
The final decision on whether Smits can compete in the opening rounds of the IDM will be made on May 6. If, contrary to expectations, he is not fit in time, another Yamaha Racing support rider from the European team will step in. That rider will then begin testing as early as the end of April.