Paul Bird has performed a spectacular U-turn and will now not replace James Ellison with Shane Byrne on the PBM Aprilia for the upcoming MotoGP round at Le Mans.

Bird told bikesportnews, and thousands of Eurosport viewers, that Byrne would ride the bike at the French round in a week's time so the team would get another perspective on the problems they are having. But not now, apparently.

"It was unfortunate that James didn't finish the race in Estoril but he proved what the machine was capable of in Jerez. This is a long-term project and we have to look at all options available to us in achieving our goals, which both the team and James understand. Our concentration is now on getting the technical help we need and to make more progress at Le Mans and Catalunya," said a statement from the team's technical director Phil Borley.