MV Agusta rider Niki Tuuli showed great promise at the beginning of the 2022 Supersport World Championship (WSSP). The Finnish racer secured a sixth and fifth place at the Aragon round and followed up that solid performance with a sixth and seventh-place finish at the two Dutch races. Going into the Estoril round on May 22, 2022, Tuuli held the fifth spot in the rider’s championship standings with 40 points.
Number 66’s championship charge came to a sudden halt though when he crashed his MV Agusta F3 800 RR during the Sunday morning warm-up session. The title chase was the least of Tuuli’s worries following the incident, in which he suffered poor blood circulation and severely broken toes after they got caught in the bike’s chain. The MV Agusta rider underwent surgery immediately, but after fully assessing his condition, doctors determined that they couldn’t save several toes.
“Just a quick update about my condition. First surgery was on Sunday and in that operation, they tried to fix everything with nails. The damage was so bad that my toes didn’t come alive even after the surgery,” revealed Tuuli in an Instagram post. “The second surgery was on Thursday, and we needed to amputate my three toes unfortunately! At the moment, there’s a lot of pain and a lot more nerve pain. It looks likes on Wednesday, it will be possible to fly back home. Thanks to all for the nice messages, it means a lot to me.”
Of course, Tuuli has a long road to recovery (on and off the bike) ahead of him. He hasn’t stated a timeline for his return yet, but the 26-year-old rider should still have a promising career following the injury. Grand Prix rider Daryl Beattie lost all the toes on one foot following a similar crash in 1994 only to capture second place in the championship standings in 1995. Troy Bayliss also lost part of his pinkie finger in a Donington Park crash in 2007 before securing his third WSBK championship in 2008.
With those examples as inspiration, hopefully, Tulli makes a full recovery and returns to the front of the WSSP pack soon.
