Tamada out with 'suspected fracture'.

Makoto Tamada, who took pole position for the 2004 Portuguese Grand Prix last September, will miss today's 2005 edition of the event due to a wrist injury sustained in qualifying.

Although forced to miss most of the qualifying hour after the fall, and being left last on the grid as a result, Tamada hoped he would be able to race today - but after finding the pain in his wrist as strong as ever this morning, fears are growing that it could be fractured and he will miss both the race and tomorrow's planned test session as a result.

"Makoto has a lot of pain. After the first few exams we suspected a fracture close to the scaphoid," confirmed Dr Mattioli of the Clinica Mobile. "The rider cannot completely move his right hand and he will not be able to participate to today's race.

"We'll understand what the injury is exactly only after the CAT scan which the rider will have in the next few days. At the moment we have applied a Scotchcast to restrict the movement of the injured wrist," he added.

"The hope is that after Makoto's injuries, bad luck will finally abandon us," sighed Tamada's Konica Minolta Honda team manger Luca Montiron. "As Makoto could have a potential problem to the right wrist, it doesn't make any sense to risk anything by letting him participate in the grand prix.

"The season has just begun and we have to concentrate on how to recover our rider as quick as possible," he continued. "For this we'll begin to prepare ourselves for the Grand Prix of China, where we'll absolutely have to be back at our level, since that is one of the few grand prix in Asia. Tomorrow, obviously, we'll not take part to the test session programmed here at the Estoril."