Fidel Castillo Ruiz will be on the sidelines for a while after rupturing his medial meniscus and PCL while training.

“Yesterday while training I suffered a serious injury,” wrote Castillo on Wednesday. “After several tests, the prognosis has been confirmed, ruptured inner meniscus and Partial cruciate ligament rupture, time to undergo surgery and focus on recovery. Very hard moment for me but it’s time to get strenght [sic] and move forward.

“We will come back stronger.”

Castillo competes in the FIA European Baja Cup, finishing fourth in SSV at the season-opening Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura earlier in May. Earlier in the year, he placed ninth in class at his maiden Dakar Rally.

Injuries also prevented him from contending for the 2024 European Baja Cup SSV title, missing the Baja TT Sharish Gin due to a broken collarbone at the Hungarian Baja. He ultimately finished the season third in points for the category with a win at the Italian Baja.

He had been the series’ T4 runner-up in 2023.

Only two SSVs are entered at this weekend’s European Baja Cup round in Turkey, though Castillo was not on the entry list prior to his injury anyway.

Featured image credit: Antonin Vincent / DPPI