Cardenas undergoes surgery

From Team M4 EMGO Suzuki

Motorcycle racer Martin Cardenas of Team M4 EMGO Suzuki underwent surgery Monday to place a rod in his broken left femur.

Cardenas was injured in a crash on the opening lap of the Supersport race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA on Sunday. The Colombian lost control of his GSX-R600 and fell off, and his body hit Tommy Hayden and his Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600.

The cause of the racing incident is not yet clear and Martin has been under sedation much of the time since the crash. Cardenas did say that he didn't have any brakes and that he had made contact with another rider immediately before reaching the corner where he crashed.

AMA officials examined the bike after it came in on the crash truck and found that the front brake system was functional, with the lever intact and all brake pads in place; the brakes operated as they should when the lever was pulled.

One possible explanation is that a tankslapper kicked the brake pads back into the calipers and thus the former 250cc Grand Prix World Championship racer got no braking response from pulling the lever as he approached the corner; he may have been unable to pump the lever quickly enough to avoid a crash.

"The AMA tech guys inspected the bike and its systems. Our brakes worked afterward," said crew chief Keith Perry. "Some onboard footage indicates that Martin was hit, but we don't know if that's what caused the crash or if some headshake might have made the pads go back into the calipers or something else.

"It's clear Martin grabbed the brake, but we don't know if the brakes didn't work or if he was just in the grass without traction. We're still trying to piece it all together."

Hayden was also injured in the crash. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki offers Tommy and the entire Hayden family sincere apologies as well as wishing him a full and swift recovery.