This past Sunday (Feb 24th) Cameron and part of the Z2 crew headed out to Sonoma raceway in northern CA to get in a shake down run before the race season begins next weekend. Cameron was coming off of 5 months without riding on the track but to no ones surprise he was back up to pace fairly quickly. Last seasons injuries have now healed and Cameron can get back to riding in comfort. That comfort that lead him to multiple race wins and a 600cc lap record at thunder hill in 2011. Last year may have had its setbacks but there in no doubt that Cameron will be winning in no time.
Jon Block Group and Team Rotobox/Nexx are proud to announce Cameron Gish’s return to AMA Pro Road Racing. This weekend, Oct. 6th & 7th, Cameron will be racing Rocco Horvath’s Team Rotobox/Nexx Yamaha YZF-R6 in the Motorcycle-Superstore.com Supersport class at NOLA Motorsports Park.
For the rest of the article head on over to nextmotochampion.com
So as some know I got pretty hurt at the Infineon AMA round in May. I broke my pelvis in 8 places, broke a vertebrae in my back, and tore my ACL. After having surgery to fix my pelvis I started a pretty long recovery. I had an external fixator for 8 weeks and didn’t walk for 11 weeks. This past weekend at Infineon was my first race back and first time on a bike other then a 1 day track day on a stock bike the week before. During the weekend I was a little disappointed, I struggled with speed, I got tired really easily, I had another small crash. I finally ended the weekend with a 2nd in 600 production from the back of the grid and some decent times from the 750 race I ran off in earlier in the day. It was the toughest weekend of racing I’ve ever had other then the AMA weekend.
I felt like I faced a lot of criticism for racing so early and the speed and quality of which I did so. Looking back on the weekend I probably did come back to soon, I wasn’t ready for multiple reasons, but I told myself back when I was still Injured that if it was possible to race before the end of the season I wanted to do it at Infineon. I wanted to over come the left over fear I had of racing at the track that gave me the fear. Overcoming these obstacles were more important to me then results, lap times, or riding style.
Now I’ve known people who have gotten permanently injured and had close friends die doing this sport. I consider myself really lucky that I was able to recover and extremely grateful. So why exactly was I disappointed at how the weekend went? Why wasn’t I just happy to be alive, let alone race? It’s so easy being a teenage racer to get caught up in the moment and forget all about what I had been through to be back racing this past weekend. And it wasn’t until yesterday when I was making a video for a sponsor that I had to look through pictures and videos of the accident that I realized what I had been through. Then finally I started feeling much more proud of my accomplishments this past weekend, not only as a racer but as a human being. I will not only get back to where I was but better as a racer soon, and I can’t wait to make the great group of family, friends, and sponsors around me really proud.
At the last race which was the AMA moto jam at Infineon Cameron was in a dice for the lead when his number 231 Z2 racing machine lost the front end. Cameron tried to save it on his knee but was ran over. Cameron and his bike were a little banged up. Cameron and the rest of us at Z2 racing would like to give you fans a way to help get this up and coming pro racer get a head start on getting back to the track. We all know racing is expensive but when you couple that with a crash and some good sized medical bills a little help is needed. That’s where you come in. You can head over to the donations page ( donations ) and make a donation no matter how big or how small every bit will help. The cool thing about it, you get a CameronGish.com bracelet. So not only will you have helped a rising star get back on two wheels but you will be rocking the best wrist bracelet there is out there right now. So what are you waiting for. Get on over to the donation page and give a little if you can. Thank you and see you back on track soon.
Cameron was recently interviewed for nextmotochampion.com. Take a few minutes out of your day and take a listen. You will also hear Cameron’s long time friend Cameron Beaubier on there as well as Beaubier’s team mate Tommy Hayden.
Cam is settled into his new room and has started getting his appetite back. “Pizza Pizza” was the order of the day. During transport it was also learned that there has been injury to L5 vertebrae.
The L5 should heal on its own while Cam recovers from the pelvis surgery. X-rays show the exterior fixators connected across the front of his waist with 2 long screws into the bone. A second set of long screws are installed underneath the skin from left to right in his back. The interior screws should remain permanent.
Cam’s blood work has normalized and he was transferred to Roseville this evening. He should be there for a few days before being released home. Knowing how quickly he’ll want to start his recovery, we’re sure it won’t be very long before the PS3 is overheating again.
Cam had a fairly restful night after surgery yesterday. He’s made comment that his right eye hurts and is blurry, the doctors believe it might be a corneal abrasion. There is a bruise by his eye that seems to back that up.
His surgery was successful enough to have the physical therapist make an attempt at having him sit upright, but it was a bit too much too soon as the pain got the better of it. He is now sporting a knee brace for the torn ACL to stabilize it until he is weight-bearing again.
He’ll also continue to use the compression wraps to help prevent any blood clots. Some of his blood work is still coming back less than optimal, so they’re going to carefully monitor the progress.
Plans are already in discussion to move him closer to home once they feel he’s stable enough to move.
Cam is out of surgery and doing well, albeit with additional hardware. Further investigation has revealed a torn ACL and will be revisited once Cam is up and about again.
