Crocked Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden has decided to stay at home rather than travel to the Brno MotoGP round this weekend.
The Kentucky Kid, who injured himself during a practice for the X-Games 14 Supermoto race, has been in consultation with specialists who have told him not to risk aggravating the damage in his heel.
"My doctor and other specialists say that if I rode this week I might have to fight the injury for the rest of the year," said Hayden.

"As hard a decision as it is, and as bad as I feel about it, I think I'm better off staying home doing rehab and physio, then come back fit at Misano and try to finish the season strong.

"There's been a lot of guys this year trying to ride less than a hundred per cent and actually making their problems worse. I certainly feel bad about it for my team and I apologise. I had the permission of HRC to do the Supermoto thing. I just wanted to do some riding during the break, have some fun and I thought that maybe it'd give me a little spark for the rest of the season, but it backfired on me."