Valentino Rossi taken to local hospital after being knocked unconscious in Aragon crash

Published Sep. 28, 2014 12:30 p.m. ET

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Valentino Rossi was taken to hospital in Alcaniz for a CT scan after being knocked unconsciousness in a crash at the Aragon Grand Prix.

Rossi had started well from sixth place and had been making progress when he ran wide in the downhill section, running off track and onto the slippery grass where he crashed heavily.

He lost consciousness briefly after the crash but regained it quickly and was taken immediately to the medical center for a check up. No injuries were diagnosed, but the rider was transferred to hospital for a precautionary check up.

Clinica Mobile Medical Director Michele Zasa explained, "Valentino suffered a concussion with a suspected loss of consciousness. From a neurological point of view he has recovered very well. He was taken to hospital in Alcaniz to make a further check, in particular a CT scan of the skull that has ruled out any bleeding in the brain. As a precaution he will be observed in the coming hours, but there are no special reasons for concern."

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director Massimo Meregalli commented, "Vale was riding very well up to his crash, it's a pity because after his out lap he said the changes we made were perfect and he felt the bike was working well. We are not clear yet on the cause of the crash but he was clearly riding with potential to finish on the podium. Fortunately he seems to be fine and was taken to the hospital as a precautionary check up following an initial check at the medical center."

The above medical bulletin about Rossi's condition follows the CT scan the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider underwent at the Alcaniz hospital. His physical condition will be monitored closely by Clinica Mobile.

Rossi's DNF means he stays third in the general standings on 214 points, now three behind Dani Pedrosa who is second.

UPDATE -- 6:30 p.m. ET

Rossi sent out a tweet from his personal account telling his fans that he was "OK" but was suffering from a headache.

UPDATE -- Monday, Sept. 29

On Monday morning Rossi underwent a new medical check with Dr. Michele Zasa from Clinica Mobile.

After the check, Rossi returned to the garage where Movistar Yamaha MotoGP members and teammate Jorge Lorenzo were shooting a TV commercial for Movistar.

The following questions were put to Valentino as he missed yesterday’s post-race media debrief and TV interviews.

Valentino, how are you today?

"I’m fine, everything is OK, and this is the most important thing. I did not injure myself too much except for a big bump to the head. Last night I had a little headache but today I'm fine, I'm 100 percent. It was a real shame because before the race we made a change that would have helped me a lot; the bike was strong, I was going well, I had recovered the gap in the first few laps and I was there with the leading riders. I felt good and I am sure I could have made a good race, so it was a real shame to fall. In a way I'm almost glad because even though we had a difficult weekend on Sunday we were competitive and this was supposed to be a track that is not very good for us."

Have you watched the race? What can you say about your crash and about your rivals’ race?

"Unfortunately, like Iannone I went onto the artificial grass. This is always very dangerous and especially in these cases because the track was still wet from the morning shower and there was nothing to be done. Marc and Dani tried to stay on track on the slick tires but they took a big risk and in fact they crashed. In my case, if I had gone off track one meter before, I would have just gone wide, instead I touched the grass and I fell."

We have a triple header of back-to-back races ahead of us in Asia and Australia. How do you see the coming races?

"Now there are three races in a row, three races that are all beautiful and I know all tracks very well. I like all of them a lot. I will try to do my best as we have done in the last races."

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