Crash hospitalises Rossi

VALENTINO ROSSI’S world title resurgence is in jeopardy after a huge crash this morning saw him hospitalised for chest and hand injuries. It’s not know yet if he will be cleared to race on Saturday or not.

His Assen GP got off to a miserable start this morning when he crashed heavily after just six laps of the remodelled Dutch track. The Camel Yamaha star crashed at the fast left-hander leading to the final chicane, tumbling heavily in the gravel and worrying his team when he failed to immediately get up.
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After some time on the deck, he tried to get up, then sank back down again, clearly winded at the very least, before being stretchered away to the medical centre.

He walked out of the centre into a waiting ambulance some time later, on a drip and looking unsteady but not obviously injured, so we won’t know if he is cleared to race this weekend until later. He is said to be complaining of chest pains, and an injured right hand. We’ll bring you the news as soon as we know.

The first practice session was a special 90-minute session, to allow riders to get accustomed to the new track layout, but Rossi managed just a fraction of the total laps some of his rivals did as a result of the crash. Dani Pedrosa did 23 laps.

Nicky Hayden and Toni Elias also crashed, uninjured.

Meanwhile Marco Melandri is racing, despite his horror crash last weekend at Catalunya. He “looks like he’s been set upon by some angry bouncers…” said one witness.