WSS: Tommy Hill Crocked in Testing Crash

Tommy Hill is known for speed rather than luck, and fortune has frowned at him again at a test with his new World Supersport team, Althea Honda. According to MCN, the Englishman had been having problems with his quickshifter, and when the team sent him out to test the repairs, it malfunctioned by cutting the engine mid-corner and flinging him off the bike in a massive crash. As a result, the former Virgin Media Yamaha BSB rider has broken his hip and leg, and is now in a race to be fit for the first round of the WSS championship.

Tommy isn't short of raw speed, having put his Yamaha on the front row of several BSB grids, where it really had no right to be, and also taking a World Superbike pole in horribly wet conditions. However, he has been dogged by injuries ever since as a young teenager he very nearly lost his life in a motocross accident. His powers of determination will be taxed as he tries to recover from his latest crash before Qatar in February, but he has come back from worse. The only worry is how fit he will be when the season starts.

This is a new start for Hill. In his last couple of outings in WSS for Yamaha, he was arguably trying a bit too hard and falling off a bit too much. Hopefully, having a contract with a decent WSS team will help him to stay calm and ease himself into the world scene.