Jacque pulls out of Chinese GP

The Kawasaki rider fell down hard at the final corner during the second practice session, and while the accident didn't look too serious at first, Jacque suffered a deep, open wound inside of his right forearm, which was bleeding profusely by the time the Frenchman arrived at the medical centre.

After initial examination, the 33-year-old was was airlifted to the Huashan hospital in Shanghai, where he had surgery to clean debris from the wound and repair damage to the brachioraliasis and flexor muscles.

Jacque will return home to France today, meaning Kawasaki will have only one rider this weekend, Randy de Puniet.

Jacque's return date is as yet uncertain.

"At the moment it's not clear how Olivier received the injury to his forearm, but the most likely cause is that his arm was trapped under the bike in the crash," said Ian Wheeler, Kawasaki Communications Manager.

"While the injury is not serious, it is certainly painful and it's likely to cause Olivier some discomfort over the next few weeks.

"At the moment it's impossible to say how long the injury will keep him off the bike, but we should have a better idea once he's undergone further surgery in France to close the wound. Of course, we hope that Olivier will be fit to ride in his home race at Le Mans in two weeks time, but at the moment it looks unlikely that this will be the case.

"If it proves impossible for him to ride then we will have to look at the possibility of fielding a temporary replacement at Le Mans, as the French Grand Prix is a very important race for Kawasaki."