Colin Edwards out of Le Mans, substitute search

Forward Racing has announced that Colin Edwards will miss the forthcoming French MotoGP at Le Mans from May 18-20.

Edwards broke his collarbone into five pieces when fellow CRT rider Randy de Puniet fell and collected the Texan in qualifying at Estoril on Saturday.

It marked the fourth time Edwards has fractured his left collarbone.

The 38-year-old underwent surgery in Barcelona on Monday when a titanium plate with ten screws was inserted to help the injury heal.

Doctors, the team and Edwards all agree that he should not rush his recovery and the #5 thus intends to return for the Catalan round on June 1-3.

In the meantime Forward Racing will field a replacement rider for Le Mans. "Several riders have approached the team but no final decision will be made until tomorrow [Wednesday]," said a team statement.

Edwards has also taken a personal interest in the substitute search, asking on his Twitter page @TexasTornado5 who fans would like to see ride his Suter-BMW.

A later posting hinted at a possible shortlist: "So if u had a choice: Leon Haslam or Chris Vermeulen to ride my bike in Le Mans?"

Haslam races for the factory BMW team in World Superbikes, while currently unsigned Vermeulen took a wet MotoGP win at Le Mans for Suzuki in 2007.

An update Tweet from Edwards on Wednesday morning added: "So who's it gonna be on the Forward NGM MotoGP bike at LeMans? Tweet votes were close to 50/50... let's see what the Boss decides today :)"