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Foggy Petronas World Superbike (WSB) rider Steve Martin has described his relief following a crash that may have saved his life.

Martin was involved in a first bend pile-up in Magny Cours last week as the WSB season came to a close. The accident left him with a bruised kidney, but when doctors examined him they found a far more serious malignant tumour in the organ.

"It was really lucky that I suffered the injury or the tumour might have gone undetected," explained the Petronas rider. "I didn't feel too bad after the accident but then started to pass blood two days later."

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According to Martin, the doctors had suspicions that the bleeding may have been an indication of something more serious but didn't want to alarm the rider until the MRI scan confirmed it.

The kidney was immediately removed and Martin has been told that the procedure will not affect his racing performance, in fact he plans to come back stronger than ever.

As a result of the surgery Martin will miss the team's testing camp in Valencia, which will see his new team-mate Craig Jones climb aboard a Petronas FP1 for the first time.

Despite this disappointment though Martin knows how lucky he has been.

"After the accident I wanted to kiss the rider who caused it with my fist, but now I want to kiss him with my lips," he joked.