Fogarty eyes Brands Hatch return

Carl Fogarty, the injured World Superbike champion, may delay his comeback until Brands Hatch in August, a spokesman for his Ducati team said yesterday.

The Italian team had earlier said the British rider was expected to return at Laguna Seca in California on 9 July after breaking his left arm in a fall in Australia last month.

However, Ducati's Michele Morisetti said the physically demanding US circuit would not be the ideal place for Fogarty to return. "If not it will be Brands Hatch," he said.

The Kent track hosts the following European round on 6 August and Fogarty has drawn crowds of up to 120,000 there in the past. Morisetti said Fogarty will be present at Donington Park on Sunday for the British round of WSB. The four times world champion and the series' foremost attraction in this country will tour around the Derbyshire circuit in an open car to salute fans before the first of the two Superbike races.

If Fogarty decides to return at Brands Hatch, he will then have missed seven rounds, half of the championship.