LAST weekend's Misano Superbike meeting certainly brought Team UCL Honda rider Simon Andrews back to earth with a bang after the pleasure of a podium place at Brands Hatch.

Leaving the Kent circuit a day after the Wickhamford rider's success, the team departed Portsmouth and drove into a heatwave through France and on into Italy.

On arrival at the track the temperature was in the high 30s with the heat on the track into the 50s and that's where it stayed for the duration of the meeting, only dropping to the mid 20s overnight!

The track was awesome with a very different composition of tarmac. It was bumpy, making setting up somewhat difficult.

The first session was extremely positive and, although it was a learning process, the lap times were reducing consistently.

With the confidence of his last podium, Andrews started the first qualifying session at a red-hot pace dropping into the top ten in the first three laps but, in a split-second the weekend was over.

On the only none cambered corner, he accelerated hard out of the bend and the rear tyre lost grip. The Fireblade's back stepped out to the right and the tyre found traction once again, ejecting the luckless youngster off at a speed close to 110mph.

"As I came out of the bend I was hard on the gas, the next thing I knew I had hit the deck and I was looking up at the sky," Andrews recalled.

I landed on my head and shoulder with both my Shoei helmet and the Spyke leathers taking a really hard knock. I am really grateful to the manufactures for high quality of safety and how well they worked."

The Vale racer was released from the medical centre following three x-rays and seven anti- inflammatory injections. His shoulder was strapped to hold the torn muscles and ligaments tight and he was told to return first thing the next morning for a fitness test.

The team set its own to hug girlfriend Samantha Ross with both arms. If he couldn't, he wasn't fit to race.

However, the doctor's view was somewhat sceptical and said he was unfit to race.

The weekend finished early and once the equipment was packed away, all that was left to do was to watch the qualifying from the grandstand.

The team is back in action for the World Superbikes at Brands Hatch on the weekend of July 26-28.