Image: Russell Colvin.

Aiden Wagner has confirmed he’ll have to undergo surgery on his right shoulder after damaging it in a high-speed crash during Friday’s opening practice session at Wakefield Park for round two of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).

Returning to racing in the ASBK this season, Wagner stunned the field at Phillip Island when he emerged victorious, however his campaign ultimately came to a heartbreaking end this weekend in New South Wales.

The number 28 was forced to eject from his Landbridge Racing Yamaha at speed when riders entered the circuit at low speed, resulting in a severely damaged YZF-R1 and injured shoulder. Endeavouring to press on, Wagner qualified seventh, however retired from race one just three laps in.

“I tried to hang in there, but that crash destroyed my right shoulder,” Wagner explained to CycleOnline.com.au. “It was no fault of my own, and now I’m back home and will need surgery. I probably won’t make it for most of the season, but I’ll try make it back for the last two rounds if I can.

“I’ll need a full shoulder reconstruction and they’ll probably need to take a graft from my hamstring because it’s been done three times before. It’s pretty shocking – it popped out probably 20 times throughout the course of the weekend, easily.

“I tried every strapping technique, and I got a few laps into that race and felt like I could fight, but it popped out again and I had to retire. There’s nothing else I could’ve done – I tried really hard and tried every procedure to keep it in, but in the end, there was nothing we could do, so I’m pretty bummed out at the moment.

“I’ve had three reconstructions on that shoulder, but it was healed real nicely before the crash and it was the strongest its ever been. I came down so hard, and the officials took it on the chin – they said it was their stuff up letting too many riders out at once.”

Following today’s action, Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) has now taken ahold of P1 in the championship rankings as the series heads to The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia on 26-28 April.