TROY CORSER suffered a huge highside while testing the BMW World Superbike at Monza, the accident leaving the former multiple World Champion with a badly bruised left hand.
Corser and team-mate Ruben Xaus were joined in the test by Steve Martin who is maintaining his role as BMW development rider.
Corser's crash happened midway through day two, meaning he sat out the remainder of the day - bringing his test to an early finish. Despite the fall Corser still managed a best time of 1m 46.3, Xaus' best was a 1m 46.8.
Corser said: "We did a lot of useful work here and gave the team a lot more feedback about the bike. The tests showed that we still have some way to go, but the base is very good and the bike's potential has not been realised yet at all. Unfortunately I had a crash on the second day and badly bruised my left hand when I highsided at the first chicane. Back in the pits, I tried to get on my spare bike, but my left hand was too sore to steer the bike properly, so the team and I decided to call it quits. I feel a bit sorry for Ruben, because he had to do his work and mine, but I know he and his team did a great job and no doubt I can repay the compliment sometime."
Xaus added: "That was a tough test and very, very intensive - especially after Troy crashed and had to stop. My team asked me to try many, many things and I just worked away trying to do as much as possible. At the end, I was physically and mentally finished, but I was happy because I had given the guys lots of data and info to work with and we could see good direction for the future. Sometimes, when you have many things to test, it is easy to lose your way and, for a moment, it was looking that way, but we kept working hard and the team and I finished knowing that we were heading in the right direction - and that's all you can ask."
