Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Thomas Covington will undergo further tests today to assess the extent of a knee injury sustained on Sunday in the first MX2 moto at the MXGP of Portugal. Covington was running second in the moto before he hit a soft spot and hurt his knee. The American pulled out of the moto and did not return.

The injury is to the same knee Covington suffered a torn ACL to in the qualifying race at the Motocross of Nations last year while riding for Team USA.

“I got off to a great start in the opening moto and quickly found myself in second position,” he said in a press release. “My pace was good and I really wanted to battle for the win in the first race. Six or seven laps into the moto, I hit a soft spot as I was going into a turn and hurt my knee. There was a lot of mud in some places and that made things harder. It’s the same knee I hurt at the end of last season at the Motocross of Nations, and the pain was too much to continue. Right now, I am not exactly sure what the extent of the injury is. We will get it checked with my doctors first thing tomorrow morning and hopefully we can start making plans for my return to the races soon.”  

After a slow start to the season while coming back from his ACL injury, Covington was beginning to find his speed. Last weekend in Italy, he won the second MX2 moto in dramatic fashion to take second overall behind Jorge Prado. The moto win was the only time through five rounds Prado and defending MX2 champion Pauls Jonass have lost a moto this year.

We’ll provide an update once more information is known.

[Update: Wednesday, April 18]

Covington wrote on Instagram that he tore his meniscus and partially tore his ACL in the crash.