Phil Nicoletti Announces Fully Torn ACL
When the title sponsor Rockstar pulled out of the Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha team in Canada, Phil Nicoletti decided to return to race the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship in the U.S. But it’s has been a rough return for our man Nicoletti. At the second round, he went down hard in a first-turn pileup in moto one that ended his day early. At the third round, he finally recorded his first—and only so far—moto finish inside the top 15 aboard his ClubMX Yamaha YZ450F.
Through four rounds, Nicoletti sits 22nd in the 450 Class standings with nine points. Now, the hits just keep coming, as Nicoletti has learned a practice incident he suffered before the RedBud National resulted in a fully torn ACL. He will miss this weekend’s Southwick National as he will “reevaluate and make a new plan.”
“I hate this dumbass saying “when it rains, it pours”, but it’s true. While testing the week before Red Bud, I had a freak incident dabbing my leg resulting to a full acl tear, medial meniscus tear and lateral meniscus tear. 2021 hasn’t been the best, and sure as hell wasn’t planned to be like this. A lot of time and a lot of effort has gone unnoticed. But in the end you have pay the toll to rock and roll. Time to reevaluate and make a new plan. Sorry to the amazing people and companies that came together.”
The team said the following in a pre-race report ahead of this weekend’s Southwick National:
“They say it is part of the sport or it happens to everyone or it is just a matter of when, not if. No matter how you say it, injuries just suck, especially when it happens to someone who has worked so hard for everything he has. As of this writing, Phil Nicoletti has aggravated his knee at RedBud and will not be at Southwick. The diagnosis is full ACL tear, medial meniscus tear and lateral meniscus tear. He has taken the time to get an MRI and will review the results with the medical team to evaluate the next and best course of action to continue his career.”
