Capirossi out of Assen, no Spies.

A further right arm injury has forced Loris Capirossi to abandon his MotoGP return at this weekend's Dutch TT at Assen.

Capirossi was making his comeback at Assen following a hand injury sustained at Catalunya earlier this month - and set the 12th quickest time in this morning's first free practice session - but suffered a fast highside from his GSV-R early in the afternoon hour.

After hitting the asphalt, Capirossi's bike rolled over the top of him, trapping his right forearm and causing a deep wound. Capirossi was immediately taken to the medical centre and operated on. He will now rest the injury and will not take any further part in this weekend's event.

"After this morning's practice I was quite happy, because my hand was working well and there was no pain. I felt that I was riding quite well and settling back into things," began Loris. "In the afternoon I came in and put on a new tyre and the first lap out it felt quite good, but when I changed down from sixth to fourth gear and leaned on the left side I lost control and the bike jumped me out of the seat.

"The problem was that when I crashed the bike came on top of me and I get this hole in my arm. It was not easy when that happened, but I know I have great support all around me from many people. I will now work to get myself 100% right and jump back on the bike as soon as possible!" he added.

"Loris knew it wouldn't be easy to come back after 17 days since he broke his hand, but he immediately justified his decision to be here by being able to ride at a decent speed, to supply good feedback and know where we were heading over the weekend," said team manager Paul Denning.

"I think it is necessary to make it clear that the crash was nothing to do with his recent hand injury and it was just one of those things that happens in racing," insisted Denning. "He was lucky that he didn't break anything or cause more damage to the original injury, because it is a really fast place to crash. Unfortunately the bike got on top of him and ripped a sizeable piece of flesh from his right forearm.

"Dr Costa and his team performed an operation to close and stabilise the wound and Loris will now start his recuperation to get himself fit again - for sure [in time for the] Sachsenring in two weeks time!"

Double AMA Champion Ben Spies - who delivered a highly promising MotoGP debut in place of Capirossi last weekend at Donington Park - is present at Assen but, for reasons yet to be made clear, will not replace Capirossi.

Meanwhile, Capirossi's team-mate Chris Vermeulen set the tenth fastest time on the sole remaining GSV-R.

"It's been not too bad on the whole today," said the 2007 Assen pole sitter. "We had a bit of a problem this morning with some engine settings on the bike and it made it quite difficult to ride. The technicians worked hard to correct it and they even got some information from the factory in Japan to help us and together we were able to overcome the problem."

"Apart from Casey Stoner all the riders are really close at the moment and we feel confident that Chris and the GSV-R have got quite a lot to give over the rest of the weekend!" said Denning.