Estoril MotoGP: Toni Elias injures foot in freak incident

Spaniard Toni Elias has suffered a right foot injury after a high-speed clutch failure on his Alice Ducati in Estoril.

The former Estoril GP winner was approaching the tight first corner at the end of the start/finish straight at nearly 200mph in this afternoon’s second free practice session when a flying piece of his failed clutch hit him on top of his right foot.

What initially had looked like a spectacular engine failure was in fact a clutch failure, and after quickly pulling off track with Valentino Rossi in pursuit, Elias then limped off his stricken Ducati GP8.

Elias suffered severe swelling to the top of his right foot, which was eased after lengthy treatment in the Clinica Mobile.

A team spokesman said: “Toni’s foot was hit by a piece of the clutch that shot out of the side of the engine. It was very painful and obviously totally unexpected so he was quite shocked. He was quite lucky really. He is in pain but we are sure he will ride tomorrow.”

Elias finished in 18th and last place as a result of his bad luck.