24-year-old Luke Arbon has announced his retirement from SD3 Husqvarna and professional racing after only one round of the 2017 Motul MX Nationals.
Arbon placed 10th overall at opening round in Wonthaggi, which marked the South Australian’s return to racing after breaking his neck at Murray Bridge in 2016.
In a Facebook post to his fans, Arbon said;
“This is a decision that has come quite easily for me in the last couple of months.
“3 years ago I was fortunate enough to be a part of a family orientated team that was SD3 Husqvarna. We were the team that sat out the back, kept to ourselves and stayed away from the politics, but most importantly I was having fun racing my bike.
“Since then the team has turned into a big shot factory team. I use the word ‘factory’ loosely as the lack of organisation from team management saw me receive one bike in January I spent the last 3 months trying to organise bike parts, a mechanic, gear, as well as train and mentally prepare for my first race back after breaking my neck 10months ago.
“I knew coming back from my injury was going to be physically and mentally hard and it would take me a few races to settle in.
“To receive a text message from the team owners 5 days after racing Wonthaggi stating I was not fit enough and wasn’t happy with me ‘rolling around in 10th’ was the nail in the coffin.
“The lack of support from the team owners who I once thought were like family leading up to and at this first round proves that people change and everyone is only in it for themselves.
“I work my ass of training, amongst making sure I have bike parts, organising other stuff for the team, driving myself over to the races to then be expected to win and all in the hope that I might be paid at some point during the year.
“I have a family to support and at the end of the day the fun has been sucked out of racing for me.
So I am officially retiring from the SD3 Husqvarna team and from racing at a national level.
I will be doing my own thing with the support of my family and racing SA Titles and hopefully find the passion for the sport again that has always been my life.”