Image: Keith Muir.

Two-time Australian Superbike Champion Glenn Allerton will undergo knee surgery this afternoon in Sydney after struggling through ongoing pain during the early stages of 2014.

The Next Gen Motorsports rider crashed during a test at Phillip Island last November and sustained a torn right PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) in the incident, which will be the focus of the procedure at Kareena Private Hospital in Caringbah.

Allerton will also have surgeons perform a standard arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for a lingering injury sustained 13 years ago.

“I highsided in Turn One testing just before the V8 event at Phillip Island,” Allerton told CycleOnline. “I came down really hard and when I went over the handlebars I whacked my knee. It tore my PCL and have had problems ever since.

“Over the past five and a half months there hasn’t been any improvement in the condition and my biggest problem is when I bend down, I have a lot of pain without a lot of strength. It’s important I get it sorted out.”

With recovery time anticipated between two weeks to a month for athletes – otherwise regularly around six weeks – Allerton isn’t 100 percent certain whether he’ll be fit for a pre-race test scheduled at Mallala early next month.

“The doctor basically said that during the recovery process I will know myself how the knee feels whether I can ride or not,” he added.

The next round of the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship will take place at Mallala in South Australia on 16-18 May.