Aaron Plessinger will skip the final three rounds of the Pro Motocross season as he continues to heal from an unspecified illness. He originally planned to skip only the Washougal National and then use the two-week hiatus to recover his health.
“Ongoing health issues had affected the 29-year-old prior to missing Round 8 at Washougal, however, despite initial plans to return for Ironman Raceway this Saturday, Plessinger has been recommended by his doctors to take additional time off the bike in order to focus on his recovery,” Red Bull KTM said in a press release.
Plessinger’s strong start to the season, with two podiums and another pair of top-five finishes in the first four rounds. He finished seventh at Southwick in Round 5 before the health issues developed. He was outside the top 10 at RedBud and then started Moto 1at Spring Creek before pulling off track with fatigue, Plessinger was unable to line up for the second moto there.
“Unfortunately, getting to the bottom of my health issues is taking longer than I had hoped,” Plessinger said. “My Cortisol levels are still really low and not back to where I was hoping they would be by now, so under my doctor’s advice, I’m going to sit out the remainder of the MX series. It’s frustrating given I was riding the best I have ridden in my career this season, but going from leading motos to DNFs is not healthy for me and I don’t think it’s what the fans or my team deserve either.
“I’m getting older and it’s just time for me to do some deep-diving into my health and get to the bottom of it. I’m not the first guy to go through it, so I have received a lot of positive feedback and support from my peers, and I will figure this out – it’s just something that is taking a bit longer than I had hoped. I’m already missing seeing the fans and my team every weekend, so you better believe I will be back real soon.”
Indications are that he will return for the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) playoffs, but that was not part of the announcement. Plessinger said he was “shooting for Charlotte, so I’m kind of excited about that — I don’t know, whatever,” Round 1 of the playoffs, in an Instagram post.
In that Instagram post, Plessinger ended some internet speculation, saying he has not tested positive for Epstein-Barr Syndrome, had not over-trained, or submitted to an extreme and unhealthy diet. His symptoms began to display as he rode through what he believed to be a simple sinus infection. Plessinger did not state that he knew there was a direct correlation between the infection and his current symptoms.
Plessinger’s 250 divisional teammates Tom Vialle and Julien Beaumer also skipped Washougal, but they will return to action this week.
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