Image: Russell Colvin.

Australia’s young gun, Taree’s Josh Hook, is unlikely to race at the opening round of the 2016 Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island after dislocating his left shoulder and suffering a small break in testing this afternoon.

In sweltering afternoon heat, Hook crashed his Kawasaki at turn two and was transported to the circuit medical centre where he was declared unfit to race — a sour start to his rookie WorldSBK season.

However, the determined Hook, keen to make his debut for his new Grillini Kawasaki team, plans to see a specialist in Melbourne tomorrow.

Hook will still need clearance from the circuit’s chief medical officer later in the week to be allowed to compete in the weekend’s two 22-lap races.

Hook was 20th fastest in today’s sessions, while the other Australians in the international field, Josh Brookes (BMW Motorrad) and wildcard Mike Jones (Ducati) completed the two-day test at Phillip Island in positions 15th and 16th respectively.