More bad luck for Neukirchner

From Team Suzuki Alstare Brux

Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Max Neukirchner suffered a high-speed crash Thursday at Imola, damaging four vertebra in the process.

He was taken to hospital in Bologna and, after X-rays, was fitted with a cast round his torso to prevent any further damage. He will stay in the hospital overnight, but is scheduled to fly back to his local hospital in Germany for further investigation Friday.

Neukirchner's setback is a cruel blow to the whole team, who have been looking forward to his return since Monza. Until his crash, Neukirchner had enjoyed his time on the bike and, despite some understandable soreness in his leg, was happy to be back in the saddle again.

"I am not sure why I crashed," he admitted, "but I have injured myself some more and so I must start the recovery process all over again. Yesterday was not so bad and I showed that I could ride the bike OK after some weeks away. I was looking forward to a second full day on the track, so it was a big pity that I fell.

"It seems that I have cracked or damaged some vertebra and so I must go back to my hospital in Germany and get everything checked out. Once that is done, my doctors will work out a programme for me and I will start treatment/rehabilitation or whatever. I have done this before, so I know I can do it again."

Yukio Kagayama struggled in the scorchingly hot conditions and although the team made numerous changes and adjustments to the bike, he was unable to push as hard as he would've liked. In the end, he finished in a disappointing 18th place.

Briton Jonathon Rea (Honda) posted the fastest lap of the tests, with a lap of 1:48.670. Second is Michel Fabrizio (Ducati), with Ben Spies (Yamaha) third and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) fourth.

Top Six Results
1. Jonathan Rea (GBR-Honda) 1:48.670
2. Michele Fabrizio (ITA-Ducati) 1:48.847
3. Ben Spies (USA-Yamaha) 1:49.262
4. Lorenzo Lanzi (ITA-Ducati) 1:49.309
5. Tom Sykes (GBR-Yamaha) 1:49.422
6. John Hopkins (USA-Honda) 1:49.443