Steve Martin will fill in for Kevin Curtain at the fifth round of the World Supersport Championship this coming weekend at Assen, The Netherlands, following injuries Kevin sustained at Valencia a week ago in a heavy crash.

Team Yamaha contacted the number 99 rider to ask if he was interested in riding the 600cc machine, having heard that Steve had just been told by his usual DFX World Superbike team that they would not be fielding him a bike for the Assen round, as previously agreed, due to lack of funds.

Steve said, "I can't believe the way this all came about really, but when Kev asked me personally to fill in for him I was in shock as it was the last phone call I was expecting.

"No one likes to fill in under these circumstances, especially when it's for one of your mates, but I will do the best job possible to help Kev, his team-mate Brock and Yamaha."

Steve is no stranger to success with Yamaha and knows he has big shoes to fill, but is confident in the team structure and is really looking forward to the challenge.

The Aussie rider continued, "It has been a long time since I have had an association with Yamaha, but I have only good memories as I started my racing career on them.

"The team is also very professional so I am sure they are going to make it as easy as possible for me in every way. Even from the relatively small amount of contact I've had with them so far I feel very settled and that's important for going into a race weekend.

"I just want to wish Kev the best and for him to recover and get well soon."

Practice for the fifth round of the World Supersport Championships starts this Friday, 27 April.