Loris Capirossi dislocates shoulder in Aragon Grand Prix crash

The two riders were battling for 12th place in the closing stages when Pramac Ducati rider Capirossi clipped the back of Elias' LCR Honda and both crashed.

Capirossi landed heavily, sustaining concussion and a contusion to his elbow - but more seriously dislocating the right shoulder that he had already injured in his practice crash at Assen three months ago.

"There's little to say. I crashed on my 'famous' right shoulder and suffered another dislocation as a result," said Capirossi.

"It hurts a lot, even with the painkiller I received. After the Misano race, I wanted to try to at least finish the race, but instead things went like they did."

The Italian is retiring from MotoGP at the end of the season and admitted that there is a strong chance that he will now have to miss at least one of what would have been his final four grands prix.

"At this point, my presence in Japan is in serious doubt, but I still hope to recover in time," Capirossi said.

To add to a depressing race for the Pramac team, Capirossi's team-mate Randy de Puniet - who had flown in practice - only finished 12th after going off the road on the opening lap to avoid Karel Abraham's accident.

"Once again I have to say that I'm disappointed after a race. I could have been in the top five or six positions, but instead I finished the race in 12th place," said de Puniet.

"When Abraham crashed, I couldn't do anything but go off, and after that I was able to make up a lot of seconds and some positions. I had almost caught the group in front and was pushing really hard when I made a mistake and lost everything I had gained.

"We're not very fortunate, that's for sure."