After losing the British championship title last year when he broke his leg just weeks before the final round, Jake Nicholls’ 2019 title bid has been hit hard as complications to his recovery mean he’ll miss the start of the season.

The 28-year-old Buildbase Honda rider now faces at least a three-month wait until he can start riding again after complications to the broken tibia.

“Heartbroken to say I’m not going to make the start of the 2019 season. It’s been a horrible three months since I broke my leg and it continues,” he said.

Nocholls was due to start riding again by Christmas and racing at the Maxxis British Motocross Championship opener at FatCat on March 10. But he has suffered a bone infection and yesterday his surgeon told him he would not be strong enough to ride until at least April.