The Ducati Xerox rider's pre-season preparations have been thrown into turmoil after he fell while attempting to overtake PSG-1 Kawasaki rider Regis Laconi, during Thursday afternoon.

"Basically I went to pass Regis Laconi around Lukey Heights but when I realised I couldn't make it, I had to brake hard and high-sided coming in to the MG hairpin," confirmed Troy, who had been fastest on the first two days of the test. "I have fractured the [right] collarbone close to the sternum and have also chipped the end of the sternum. I am not in too much pain and for now it doesn't seem as bad as the last break I had to my collarbone.

"I plan to come straight back to Italy to get further tests and the treatment that I need in order to be back on the bike as soon as possible," he added. "Up until my fall we were making great progress, testing a lot of tyres with Pirelli. We made a long-run and I was feeling good about how everything was going. This isn't an ideal outcome of course but I'm happy with the progress we made this week and now just have to concentrate on getting better as quickly as possible."

The opening round of the 2008 WSBK season, expected to be the last year of racing for the popular 38-year-old, takes place at Qatar on February 23. It is estimated that Bayliss will need 21 days to recover from his latest shoulder injury.

Despite the accident, Bayliss and his new 1098 still finished the test second overall - just 0.1secs behind Alstare Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama - due to his Wednesday time.