Kagayama set to miss Philip Island.

Yukio Kagayama looks likely to miss the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island after suffering a suspected broken collarbone in Qatar.

The Alstare Suzuki rider took an eighth place finish in the opening race of the season at the Losail circuit and was hoping to build on that in race two with the GSX-R1000 having shown its speed in the hands of team-mate Max Neukirchner during the opening 18-lap encounter.

"In race one, I firstly suffered a problem with tyre chatter after seven laps and the grip level also went down," he said. "Later in the race, I had some vibration exiting the turns, so it was difficult to push very hard. I just kept going as fast as I could and tried to get the best result I could."

However, Kagayama was unable to find any extra speed in the second race as he fell following contact with Carlos Checa on the opening lap, being treated trackside before being taken to hospital with a suspected broken collarbone that is likely to rule him out of next weekend's event in Australia.

"On the opening lap of race two, Yukio and Carlos Checa collided, with Yukio crashing out," the team's post-race release read. "He was taken to the medical centre for X-rays to determine if he had broken his left collarbone.

"The X-rays were inconclusive, so he was taken to the hospital for further investigation and treatment."