KENT bike ace Shane Byrne is confident of recovering from a hand injury in time for the next round of MotoGP races in Italy, his Aprilia team’s home circuit.

Byrne, known to his fans as Shakey, was forced to withdraw from last weekend’s French MotoGP in Le Mans after breaking a bone in his hand in round two in Spain at the beginning of the month.

Speaking from his home at Minster, near Sheerness, after returning to Britain for a week’s rest and recuperation, the reigning British Superbikes champion said: “I’m 99 per cent confident of making it.

“As a racer all you want to do is race, regardless of what you’ve done to yourself. I would say I’m 100 per cent sure of making the Mugello race, but I said that last time about Le Mans so won’t be making that mistake again.”

The 27-year-old had tried to ride through the pain in the free practice sessions in France after receiving intensive physiotherapy and pain-killing injections, but the injury proved too restricting.

So he returned to England for sessions with Ipswich-based laser therapist Brian Simpson. Byrne said: “He does all manner of weird and wonderful thing to help patch us racers up and I’m confident with the way the injury is coming along.

“It’s also nice to be home, even though people may think that’s strange coming from the sun and all the action back to Kent, but I brought the good weather with me.”

Byrne will return to Italy on Sunday for further consultations with Aprilia doctor Claudio Costa, before heading to the Mugello track in Tuscany for the race on Sunday, June 6.