Tech3 Moto2 rider Bradley Smith says he was lucky to escape serious injury in the crash that hospitalised him yesterday when he slid into Marc Marquez's prone Suter, breaking his collarbone and heavily bruising a lung.

The Oxfordshire youngster, who remembers little about the accident, says it's too early to know whether he will be in good enough shape to race at Valencia in two weeks' time but he intends to keep a close eye on his recovery.

“It is a big pity that I can't race tomorrow because I am convinced I would have been very competitive this weekend. But at the same time I'm quite lucky because the crash yesterday could have been worse. Right now I feel a bit beaten up, but already I feel a lot better than yesterday. When I got to Turn 10 I saw yellow flags waving but I thought it was because of the crashes before me," said Smith.

"I slowed down and the next thing I've seen the wet track and almost immediately I lost control of the bike. The initial crash was bad enough but then I hit Marquez's bike quite hard and I think this is how I broke my left collarbone and also took a big hit on my chest. I didn't really remember anything, so I had to watch a video replay to understand what happened.

"I've also got a bruised left lung and that is causing me quite a lot of discomfort. I would have flown home last night if possible but I can't fly for 48 hours, so I'll stick to my initial plan and head back to the UK tomorrow night after the race. When I get home I'll have more checks to make sure the recovery is going well but it is too early to decide if I can race in Valencia. The shoulder should be fine but we need to wait and see. Finally I'd like to thank all the medical staff at the Clinica Mobile and the Sepang International Circuit because they did a great job.”