After some initial discomfort, further exams revealed that his knee and hip were on the mend. He is now close to a full recovery with his lower body but had more surgery ten days ago to his left shoulder.

Pourcel is now anticipating a return for the first Grand Prix of the world championship at Faenza in Italy on March 29th.

"When I started physio it was pretty difficult as I had been mainly in bed for a month and my shoulder did not feel great. I had some extra scans, that revealed a tendon was stretched and we decided to have a minor surgery to put it back in the right position.

"The operation was only ten days ago and at the moment it’s not possible for me to move my left arm well; we need to work hard as the muscles were affected by the inactivity. It’s difficult at the moment to say when I might be able to ride my Kawasaki again, I hope that within three or four weeks I will be back on a track,’ explained the KRT rider who has missed testing sessions and the International races but stays optimistic.

"For sure I would prefer to be riding now but mentally I am OK and want to wait until I am total recovered before practicing or racing,’ he continued. ‘I did a lot of testing and racing with the new fuel-injected 450 Kawasaki so I know the bike very well.

"My team-mate Gareth Swanepoel is working hard with the team and I’m sure that the bike will be perfect when I will be ready. My aim is to be as fit as possible for the first Grand Prix and try to take as many points as I can until I am up to speed. Last season I only scored five points during the first two GPs, and later with some strong results I was coming back close to the top three of the series. We all know that the championship will be long."