Franco Morbidelli out of German MotoGP after violent sprint crash

VR46 MotoGP rider Franco Morbidelli was taken to hospital following a heavy crash during Saturday’s German Grand Prix sprint and will miss Sunday's race.

The 2020 championship runner-up had been enjoyed a strong weekend up to Saturday’s 15-lap sprint at the Sachsenring.

Qualifying fourth on his year-old Ducati, Franco Morbidelli had challenged for pole earlier in the day prior to a crash at Turn 8.

The Italian managed to jump up to second at the start of the rain-hit sprint, taking advantage of polesitter and eventual winner Marc Marquez running wide at Turn 1.

While running in second, Morbidelli crashed again at Turn 8 when the rear of his VR46-run Ducati let go on the way into the left-hander.

Morbidelli violently rolled through the gravel, with the force of the incident opening his leather race suit.

He was immediately taken to the medical centre at the circuit, before being transferred to hospital in nearby Chemnitz to undergo further evaluation.

A brief statement from the VR46 team read: “After being examined at the circuit medical centre, Franky was diagnosed with a severe contusion to the left collarbone and will be transferred to Chemnitz Hospital for further evaluation.”

Following this, the team announced that he will sit out Sunday's grand prix and will return to Italy for more medical checks.

"Franco Morbidelli will not participate in tomorrow’s German GP due to persistent pain in his left shoulder from today’s crash at the Sachsenring. He is scheduled to return to Italy tomorrow for further medical assessment," a statement read.

The grid at the German Grand Prix was already depleted coming into the round, with LCR rookie Somkiat Chantra ruled out with a leg injury following a training incident.

Tech3’s Enea Bastianini was subsequently benched due to illness, which kept him off-track on Friday before a decision was made to sit him out for the rest of the weekend.

Then in qualifying on Saturday morning, team-mate Maverick Vinales suffered a crash at Turn 4 and fractured his collarbone - ruling him out for the remainder of the weekend.