Luckless Eugene Laverty has been taken to hospital with two fractured wrists after a crash in the opening WorldSBK free practice at Imola.

Laverty went down on the exit of Acque Minerali but walked to the circuit ambulance under his own steam. After an assessment at the track medical centre, he was taken to Imola hospital.

“Eugene is being seen to by the doctors and his wrists will be put into casts. We’re then flying down to Barcelona where he will be seen by Dr Mir,” said wife Pippa.

“Other than that he has no other injuries and the cause of the crash is yet to be determined as the guys in the team need to look at the data.”

Following X-rays, Laverty has been disgnosed thus:

Right wrist broken radius and stiloid of the ulna, scaphoid

Left wrist distal radius and first metacarpal