Rossi heads row three after injuring finger in FP4 crash

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider fell at high speed in the final practice and injured the little finger on his left hand. X-rays in the medical center revealed there were no breaks and the Italian was able to join Q2.

The Yamaha rider had finished FP4 on top of the timesheet, despite the crash. His pain was visible when putting on his gloves at the start of the 15 minute qualifying session.

Rossi was one of the last riders to leave pit lane in Q2, but the finger injury appeared to cause no him major problems.

A 1’55.821s was only 0.236s from Marc Marquez’s pole position time, but only placed Rossi in seventh. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was sixth and just 0.006s quicker than Rossi. Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was the top Yamaha rider in fourth.

On his FP4 crash Rossi said, “I was pushing a lot and my pace was fast, then I entered turn 11 a bit wide and lost the front. I damaged the small finger a little. It’s important to have no fracture so it looks good. Hopefully there are no problems for the race.”

“The soft tyre on the front is not an option for me. I will have to run the hard front in the race tomorrow I think,” he said looking ahead.

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