De Puniet injured in motocross crash

The Frenchman, who finished in a superb third place in the last race at Donington, was working with his personal trainer Yves Demaria in Aix en Provence when he suffered a fall entering a turn with his motocross bike.

The LCR rider fractured his left ankle and had to undergo surgery to insert a screw.

His team said de Puniet will meet the Clinica Mobile staff over the next days and is hopeful he will be racing at Brno.

"Yves and I planned a specific training programme to improve my performance on track this year," said de Puniet. "This programme helped me a lot so far and, though the summer break, I could not stop training for two weeks' time. That's why we went out to make a short motocross training.

"Unfortunately I had a fall and the impact on the ground caused me the fracture of the left ankle.

"I am very disappointed for this inconvenience but training is very important for me to be well fitted on track. Will do my best to race in Brno and I am sure that the Clinica Mobile staff will support me in the best way".