Former Irish Superbike Champion Michael Pearson is due to leave hospital today after undergoing surgery to fix a broken ankle sustained in mototcross training last week.

The Ballygowan man had to have eight screws and a plate inserted into his broken ankle leaving the embarrassed Boost Yamaha rider with a six week recovery period.

Pearson’s manager Willis Marshall said that Michael is determined to get back out on his bikes just as soon as his injury heals. "Michael is very annoyed by the whole incident which when you look at what happened, would have been classed as a minor incident," he said.

"Michael was doing no more than about 15mph when his foot got struck in a rut as he was rounding a corner while riding his motocross bike in a stubble field. He has been in quite a bit of pain, and I would think that he will continue to be in some discomfort for a few days more, but he is eager to get going and has his sights set on the 2009 road racing season already.

"He was to travel with myself last Monday over to Leeds to see our sponsors Boost Energy Drinks, and with Michael unable to attend, he felt really down. Hopefully that will happen in due course. I did meet with our sponsors last Monday and we are in the middle of setting about proposals for next year.

"Hopefully something can be drawn up sooner rather than later, as we have roughly about four weeks to finalise our plans, and until we know what our budget is going to be, nothing can be done at the moment."

Pearson will be unveiling his Supersport 600 Honda next weekend at a function in Carryduff, as part of the GSMCC sponsorship in the Supersport class. The bike was ridden in 2008 by Scotsman Keith Amor is already race ready and in its new colour scheme. He would like to thank everyone who has sent good will messages, and who has visited him in hospital.