Bayliss: It's like I didn't pay the mafia

Troy Bayliss reckons the injuries he sustained at Donington Park two weeks ago are more like a punishment beating by the mafia than a typical bike racing accident.

Bayliss crashed out of the lead in race one at Coppice and after getting tangled up with his Xerox Ducati 999 was forced to have the top two joints of his little finger amputated along with exploratory checks of his groin area.

Despite the painful injuries, Bayliss will ride tomorrow and the reigning world champion remains upbeat about his situation regardless of his obvious pain.

Bayliss said: “I’m feeling OK but the situation is a bit unknown until I get on the bike.

“I’ve got to be careful not to hit myself down below obviously, but the hand feels good. It’s certainly going to be different; after all I’ve been racing with my little finger for 20 years.

“I’ve had many worse crashes over the years; this one was unlucky as far as losing a finger goes.

And the Australian added: “If you looked at me you wouldn’t think I’d been in a motorbike accident, you’d think I hadn’t paid some bill and the mafia had come and chopped one finger off with a pair of scissors and hit my nuts with a hammer because I haven’t got one other mark on my body.”