Bayliss back home, without little finger.

Reigning double World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss has returned to his Monte Carlo home following an operation on his injured hand, which resulted in the removal of the top two bones of his right little finger.

The Australian had a weekend of ups and downs at Donington Park: On Friday he celebrated his 38th birthday, on Saturday he set pole position and then on Sunday he high-sided out of the lead of race one at Coppice - sustaining injuries to his hand and groin. Bayliss was first taken to the Clinica Mobile, before doctors sent him to the nearby Derbyshire Royal Infirmary for immediate surgery.

The operation consisted of the removal of the top two bones (intermediate and distal phalanges) of the little finger of his right hand. During the fall, Bayliss also received a powerful blow in the groin region and, due to concerns, specialists at the Derby hospital also carried out checks before giving him the OK to leave. Troy was discharged late on Monday afternoon and flew back to Monte Carlo.

Bayliss is now resting at home and he will undergo a reassessment of his injuries on Friday. Race regulations require a further medical check on Thursday of next week before Bayliss can be declared fit to race, but all signs point to the Australian being able to return to the track for the next round of the 2007 World Superbike championship at Valencia on April 13-15.

"The crash happened so quickly that I don't remember my hand going under the handlebar or anything," said 'Baylisstic'. "The only thing I remember when I stopped was pain in my groin, I didn't feel the hand at all. Basically I crashed through corner speed, trying to make a gap on James [Toseland] which I was doing and in this one corner the back came around on me and went into a slide/chatter.

"Normally I would save it but Coppice has a little rise and the bike came back as it crested the rise and that set it off in a different direction and I didn't have a chance at saving it," admitted the Ducati Xerox rider. "I'm confident I'm going to be fine for Valencia. It's hard to say after one day but I feel like things are coming along OK and I've still got plenty of days to recover. I feel like I can get on a motorbike now but I won't know that until I do. Hopefully in just a week and a half you'll see the usual Troy!"

David Mitchell, the newly-appointed head of brand and marketing communications at Xerox Europe - who met Bayliss for the first time at the Donington weekend - added:

"On behalf of Xerox, I would like to express our concern for Troy's wellbeing. Our thoughts are with him after Sunday's horrible accident and we wish him a speedy recovery. Along with the team and all his race fans, we are all looking forward to him getting back out on the track again as soon as possible."

Despite Toseland's retirement from race two at Donington, Bayliss is now 51 points - over two race wins - behind the world championship leader heading into round four of 13 at Valencia.