Image: Russell Colvin.

Honda rider Mark Chiodo will undergo surgery today on a broken right collarbone following a high-speed crash at turn one while testing at The Bend.

Chiodo returned to Fireblade machinery this year and raced the opening round of the 2023 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship onboard a bike purchased from Penrite Honda Racing that was used last season.

He finished a strong fifth in race one at Phillip Island before an incident during the second encounter meant he was unable to complete the weekend as there were not enough available spares on hand to repair the damage.

Having taken delivery of a brand new second bike, Chiodo was coming to grips with the platform during a three-day test in Tailem Bend before his right bar-end collapsed while braking for turn one. As a result, Chiodo broke his collarbone and also needed stitches in his face after making contact with the rear wheel of his bike while sliding.

“It was about 200km/h going into turn one in Tailem Bend, you’re going about 310km/h down the straight there and on the data it says about 200kph when I crashed,” Chiodo recalled. “Naturally when the bar breaks, you grab the brake harder and the thing endoed and I went face first, then the bike went on top of my head.

“Because one side of the helmet was sliding with a bike on top of it, it’s worn down so much and the other side of the visor had come off and the wheel was spinning on my face and that cut it open. I actually got up and was leaning on my arm and everything, and then I kind of walked off and could feel my collarbone moving in the leathers.”

Chiodo has moved to the Brisbane Private Hospital to see renowned specialist Dr Steve Andrews and is scheduled to go under the knife today to make the necessary corrections and speed up the recovery process.

“I’ll just take it day-by-day,” he added.”I hope to be on [a bike again] as soon as possible, but I also don’t feel 100 percent right after my crash in England with my wrist, so kind of need some time to get everything right and then get back on.

“I’ll probably get back on relatively soon, but whether or not I race soon is another thing because I feel like testing is more important than racing for me at the moment. At the moment I’m just testing my body [laughs], not actually how good I can go and race. We kind of need to go testing before racing.”

While Chiodo’s targetted ASBK return date has not yet been outlined, he confirmed his intentions are still to head over for the second half of the British Superbike Championship (BSB) to compete onboard a Honda in the National Superstock category.