Jake Nicholls is facing at least a three-month wait until he can start riding again after serious complications to the broken tibia he sustained in September.

The 28-year-old Buildbase Honda rider had been working towards a return to racing at the opening round of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship at FatCat on March 10.

However, he suffered a bone infection that his surgeon said could have potentially resulted in amputation with the result that he will sit out the first two rounds and could miss more.

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ā€œIā€™ve been told I wonā€™t be riding a bike until April at the earliest,ā€ he said. ā€œWhen I broke it I thought Iā€™d be back on a bike for Christmas because they said with a rod in my leg the fracture should be stable after three months and it was healing really well.ā€

Jake was a clear favourite to win the Maxxis MX1 championship before he broke his leg two weeks before the final round. Now his dream of taking the 2019 title has been shattered.

ā€œItā€™s so frustrating because I was doing all right until the infection. Itā€™s a disaster. When I went on Thursday I told the surgeon I was hoping to be racing at the first British championship round, even if only got back on a bike 10 days before.

ā€œHe just said ā€˜Iā€™ll be totally honest with you, your leg will not be strong enough to withstand putting it out going around a turn until at least Aprilā€™. This guy is a family friend but heā€™s also a sports guy so I have to listen to what heā€™s saying.

ā€œIā€™m absolutely gutted. Itā€™s another year that Iā€™m not going to win the British title. I had hoped that I might be all right. I will make a full recovery but obviously Iā€™m going to have to wait.ā€

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