McWilliams to miss Qatar race

The Ilmor rider had suffered a badly broken femur in a winter testing accident, and aggravated the wound when he crashed on Friday.

He had initially hoped to take part in today's race and left the decision as late as possible in the hope of being sufficiently fit, but McWilliams ultimately had to follow medical advice and withdraw from the event.

"It's not the way I planned to return to MotoGP, but unfortunately these things happen," McWilliams told BBC television.

"The doctors recommend that I sit it out. I've got some bruising around the femur and seem to have some blood on the muscle, so it's nearly impossible to sit on the bike.

"It's still okay, I can still stand on it, I just can't do much with it today. Maybe tomorrow or the next day it's going to be better. I'm going to see my counsultant on Tuesday so I'm flyng directly home and unfortunately going to miss the test because of it.

"It's a bit of a disaster, but it could have been worse."