Bradley Smith ready to return for Catalan round of MotoGP after injury

Britain's Bradley Smith will be fit to race at the Catalan Grand Prix, despite suffering wrist and hand injuries in his heavy practice crash at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

The rookie Tech 3 Yamaha rider fell at a high-speed downhill chicane and got his left hand caught underneath the bike as he slid into the gravel, leaving Smith with a gruesome wound on his left little finger.

His injuries will need to be re-examined before the race in Barcelona and a planned skin graft has had to be cancelled.

But Smith, who finished ninth in Sunday's race at Mugello, said: "The good news is I will be fit to ride again at the next round at Barcelona.

"The bad news is that I have a cracked bone in my left wrist and the little finger on my left hand will be permanently bent."