Eurosport - Sat, 07 Jun 20:46:00 2008
Spain's Jorge Lorenzo was ruled out of the Catalan MotoGP after crashing into the gravel during the second practice session.
"He suffered head trauma and lost consciousness. He now needs to stay under observation for between 48 and 72 hours to see how this develops," his Yamaha team quoted doctor Xavier Mir as saying.
He also sustained injuries to two fingers on his right hand, brusing to his left ankle and other bruises and grazes.
The 21-year-old MotoGP rookie, who is third in the championship, has had a painful introduction to the top category.
The double 250cc world champion fractured both his ankles in China last month and crashed again in practice for the French Grand Prix.
"Unfortunately today Jorge suffered another crash and it's clear that the luck is not with him at the moment. He was going 130 km so it was quite a fast crash," Yamaha team manager Daniele Romagnoli said.
"The head injury means that he must undergo a period of rest and not take any further risks."
Compatriot Dani Pedrosa, who is second in the rankings behind Italian Valentino Rossi, set the quickest time over the two sessions on his Honda at 1:43.017 just ahead of Italian Loris Capirossi on a Suzuki.
Rossi, who was wearing Italian football-team coloured leathers with matching livery on his Yamaha ahead of the Azzurri's first Euro 2008 match on Monday, was third in front of Australia's defending champion Casey Stoner on his Ducati.
All four were separated by less than a tenth of second.