Colin Edwards ruled out of Valencia Grand Prix due to arm injury from Sepang crash

Tech 3 Yamaha rider Edwards was diagnosed with multiple fractures to his left arm in an examination in hospital in Houston this week. The American and Valentino Rossi struck Simoncelli and his Gresini Honda as the Italian crashed in their path on lap two of the Malaysian Grand Prix, which was abandoned following the fatal accident.

Edwards' surgery will be carried out on Tuesday next week, and will require a four-week recovery period, ruling him out of next weekend's race in Spain. Tech 3 says it will announce its plans for a stand-in rider shortly.

"The top of my left humerus bone has got multiple small fractures but the cartilage that is around the top of the bone has been pulled off," said Edwards, who would have been making his final start for Tech 3 at Valencia before moving to the new Forward Racing team next season.

"The surgery will anchor the cartilage back to the bone but there is no nerve damage, so I should be 100 per cent in about four weeks."

He also thanked fans for their support following the crash, and expressed his regret at being unable to attend Simoncelli's funeral.

"Firstly, I want to thank everybody for all their messages of support since Sunday," said Edwards. "The support and love has been overwhelming and it has been a great comfort to me at this difficult time.

"My heart goes out to the family and friends of Marco and I will miss him a lot, as will the entire MotoGP family.

"I watched Marco's funeral yesterday and I really wish I could have been there. I wanted to go but unfortunately my injuries meant I was unable to travel.

"I know Valentino spoke to Marco's family on my behalf and I thank him for that. It was a great service and a fitting celebration of his life."