British Superbike champion Shane Byrne is recovering from surgery after breaking his hand during testing for the new season in Spain.

Sittingbourne rider Byrne suffered a heavy crash in the final session of the day at Almeria on Monday.

His hand is in a cast and he's facing a race against time to be fit for the opening race of the season at Donington Park next month.

Writing about the crash on his website, Byrne said: "Unfortunately it was a big one and even more unfortunately I've broken my left hand which resulted in an operation to fix it.

"The doctor has said I need a month to heal up and be right which takes me exactly to the first round, but I'm planning on heading back to the UK now to jump in a hyperbaric chamber and get the bones lasered, so I'm hoping that'll speed up the healing time considerably.

"I've supposedly got to keep this cast on for two to three weeks but I'll see what my guy in the UK says and do absolutely everything I possibly can to be ready for the Donington Park test in three weeks."