Jezza out

British veteran Jeremy McWilliams has missed the second day of testing in Qatar today.

Returning to the track for the first time since a 120mph horror crash at Jerez at the end of November left him with a broken left femur, the 42-year-old Ilmor rider suffered near disaster yesterday at the first of two official IRTA tests before the new season gets underway.

McWilliams, who only underwent surgery last Friday to remove one of two screws from his left knee to be able to ride in the Middle East, narrowly escaped a disastrous crash on the first afternoon.

“We were working on the engine mapping and trying to get some more torque.

“There was a sudden surge of power mid-corner at the hairpin and it kicked me in the air. 

“I landed on my left side and for a minute I thought I’d broken the leg again. I’m surprised people couldn’t hear me scream,” said McWilliams, who was back on two crutches today in the Qatar paddock as he was forced to watch the action from pitlane.

McWilliams plans to return to the track tomorrow for the final day of testing, with only one more winter test to follow in Jerez next week before the new 800cc MotoGP world championship kicks off in Doha on March 10, 2007.

Factory Yamaha duo Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi have again dominated on track today in Qatar, having finished first and second on the leaderboard yesterday.