Byrne to miss rest of season.

Former British Superbike champion Shane Byrne will miss the remaining four rounds of the 2004 MotoGP season after further tests on his injured wrist - sustained during a practice highside at Brno - revealed ligament and tendon damage.

Aprilia rider Byrne made a painful return to action last time out at Motegi, but was in pain all weekend and it was soon apparent that there was more to the injury than had been first thought.

Byrne to miss rest of season.

Former British Superbike champion Shane Byrne will miss the remaining four rounds of the 2004 MotoGP season after further tests on his injured wrist - sustained during a practice highside at Brno - revealed ligament and tendon damage.

Aprilia rider Byrne made a painful return to action last time out at Motegi, but was in pain all weekend and it was soon apparent that there was more to the injury than had been first thought.

"I went to my physio who was not happy and sent me for another x-ray which showed how bad the wrist was," explained a bitterly disappointed Byrne. "The scaphoid has snapped in two and the ligaments are so badly damaged they are not holding the wrist together.

"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," he added.

"It was agony riding in Japan but I thought the wrist was only dislocated," said Shakey, who finished an amazing 13th despite riding with the badly broken wrist. "I had some bad injuries at the start of my British Superbike career but went on to win the title. Lets hope I can do the same in MotoGP."

Meanwhile, as a result of Bryne's absence, former WCM rider Michel Fabrizio could get a late call-up from Aprilia to ride alongside Jeremy McWilliams for at least some of the remaining rounds.

Fabrizio previously rode as a substitute for Byrne at Estoril, where he failed to finish after injuring his arms when the RS Cube 'kicked' and now appears to have permanently left WCM due to contractual issues.

The Italian teenager rode a CBR600RR in last weekend's Imola round of the World Supersport championship for the Italia Megabike Honda team (lower pic), qualifying tenth and finishing an impressive seventh.

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