Ex-British Superbike champion Shane Byrne will miss the rest of the MotoGP season because of a broken wrist. Byrne suffered the injury nearly six weeks ago after crashing in practice for the Czech Republic Grand Prix.
The Aprilia rider missed that race and the next round in Portugal but finished 13th - despite suffering severe pain - in the most recent round in Japan.
And another X-ray last week confirmed that the wrist had been much more badly damaged than had been first thought.
"The scaphoid has snapped in two and the ligaments are so badly damaged they are not holding the wrist together," said Byrne.
"I went to Italy over the weekend for the MotoGP doctor, Dr Costa, to have a look.
"He confirmed my wrist had fallen apart and I'll go back to Italy on Wednesday and have an operation in San Marino on Thursday.
"It was agony riding in Japan but I thought the wrist was only dislocated.
"I had some bad injuries at the start of my British Superbike career but went on to win the title. Let's hope I can do the same in MotoGP," added the 27-year-old.
MMIX
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