Castrol Honda rider Jonathan Rea was forced to sit out the World Superbike races at Misano in Italy after a high-speed crash during warm-up left him with fractures to his right arm and left collarbone.

Rea had been searching for an improvement in his machine’s setting after issues in qualifying left him in 11th place after yesterday’s final Superpole session.

The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland was pushing hard in warm-up before he crashed at approximately 230kph at Misano’s fast turn 11.

Rea was transferred to Ospedale Bufalini in Cesena where the fracture to his right radius and left clavicle were confirmed.

“Well, the weekend just went from bad to worse really – I had a crash yesterday which needed some stitches in my arm and then a 230kph crash this morning at one of the fastest corners on the calendar,” Rea commented.

“Of course, I’m frustrated and I have some injuries that I want to take time to heal properly. We’ll have to miss Aragon next week, unfortunately, but Brno is a month off and the doctors tell me that the break in my arm would normally keep someone off work for three weeks.

“I’ll try to come back for Brno at 100 percent as it’s a circuit that suits me and the bike. I got my first world championship win there and we went 1-2 last year. Thanks to everyone for all the messages of support, it really means a lot and I’m sure it’ll speed up the recovery.”

With a number of other bumps and bruises, it is doubtful whether he will be able to line up for next weekend’s seventh round races at Aragon in Spain.