BMW’s Leon Haslam said he will be undergoing surgery in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday morning to repair the broken lower right leg injury sustained at Phillip Island during testing on Monday.

Haslam highsided before the start-finish-straight and landed on his heels and CAT scans showed a fracture and two cracks to his right tibia, a crack in his left heel and a small crack in his right little toe. The BMW rider will require two screws and maybe a plate to fix the injury.

“I met with the orthopaedic surgeon earlier today and we’ve made a plan to get a couple of screws inserted,” said Haslam. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to race and won’t really know what’s possible until Friday and Saturday when I see how much pain and swelling there is from the surgery.”

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The official Infront Superbike tests officially kicked off today and we’ve got another injury to add to the list of injured Superbike riders.

BMW Motorrad’s Leon Haslam crashed his S1000RR at Swan Corner’s during the morning session and had trouble walking so he was shipped off to Warley Hospital in Cowes where X-rays revealed a small bone fracture in his right heel.

Whether the fracture will allow ‘Pocket Rocket’ to race in this upcoming weekend’s opening round remains to be seen. More news when we get it.

UPDATE:

Haslam also may have a fracture to his right tibia, which will no doubt rule him out from Sunday’s race. He tweeted: “Not a good day - big high-side at the last turn. Still in hospital waiting to see when they can operate. May need a screw in the tibia.”

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BMW Motorrad Motorsport World Superbike team is going through still another team re-shuffling, Rainer Bäumel who took over after Davide Tardozzi was ousted at the end of 2010, is leaving the squad as head of racing operations at the end of season and has been appointed Project Manager on a new vehicle project at BMW.

The new team manager has yet to be announced, but it is almost certain that Yamaha’s Andrea Dosoli will be following newly signed Marco Melandri to the German squad.

Press release:

Change in personnel at BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Rainer Bäumel (45), Head of Race Operations, will leave the factory team at the end of the 2011 season, to take on the role of Project Manager on a new vehicle project at BMW Motorrad. The man from Landshut played a crucial role in the entry of BMW Motorrad Motorsport in the Superbike World Championship, and was involved in the sporting development of the team in various roles. Bäumel’s successor as Head of Race Operations will be announced at a later date.

Continue reading: BMW's Rainer Bäumel leaves WSBK - replacement not named

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