Nakano escapes serious injury.

It has now been confirmed that, amazingly, Shinya Nakano suffered only minor injuries when the rear tyre of his Kawasaki exploded at 300kph (186mph) during today's Italian Grand Prix.

Nakano and his ZX-RR were sent cartwheeling down the start-finish straight following the tyre failure - leaving his machine in pieces. The Japanese himself eventually tumbled to a halt after brushing a trackside barrier.

Fortunately, after treatment at the medical centre, it was confirmed that Nakano's injuries were limited to contusions, a bruised left shoulder, a bruised wrist and an injured finger on his right hand.

"After getting boxed in at the start, Shinya had begun to move up the field towards the top ten when his rear tyre failed, causing him to crash at the fastest part of the circuit," confirmed team manager Harald Eckl.

"I saw the crash from pit wall and, after watching the bike cartwheel down the track, I'm amazed that Shinya came through it without serious injury," he admitted.

"We don't know what caused the failure at this time, but the tyre will be sent back to Bridgestone in Japan for analysis tomorrow and I'm confident that we'll have an explanation before the next race at Catalunya."

Camel Honda's Makoto Tamada, a fellow Bridgestone rider, was forced to stop one lap after Nakano following some form of tyre difficulty.