Bayliss is substitute for Fogarty

The Australian rider Troy Bayliss has been drafted in as a replacement for the injured world Superbike champion, Carl Fogarty, at the next round in Japan this weekend.

Fogarty broke his arm in Australia on Sunday after colliding with a back-marker during the second of two races. The Briton had an operation in Melbourne on Monday to fit a titanium plate in his left arm.

Ducati said the 30-year-old Bayliss, who won the 1999 British Superbike Championship and is currently racing in the American series, would ride Fogarty's 996 machine at Sugo because the team's Italian test rider, Luca Cadalora, was not contactable when the decision had to be taken.

Fogarty, meanwhile, is not expected to ride again until Hockenheim on 4 June, which means he will miss both the British round at Donington on 14 May and the Italian round at Monza on 21 May as well as the Japanese races in Sugo.

* The former world 500cc champion Mick Doohan has given his backing to radical changes intended to open grand prix racing to larger capacity, four-stroke bikes. "It's time for a change after 20 years of two-stroke hegemony," the Australian said, reacting to changes announced by the International Motorcycling Federation.