Qualifying fall a pain in the neck for Rossi

Valentino Rossi will undergo massage treatment on his neck in order to be fully fit for the Australian Grand Prix, following a fall in the Saturday afternoon qualifying session. The 2008 MotoGP world titlist had an awkward collision with the ground when his Fiat Yamaha M1 ran him into the grass and then the gravel trap, leaving the Italian sore and unable to clock a flying lap to elevate himself from the fourth row.

Slight whiplash and damage to his neck muscles were diagnosed by Dr. Claudio Costa from the Clinica Mobile, and Team Manager Davide Brivio also revealed afterwards that Rossi had understandably picked up a headache in the incident.

`The worst part will be tomorrow morning I think,´ said Brivio. `Valentino is receiving massages and taking pills for his headache, and we´ll see how the night goes for how his condition is. We always leave these kinds of decision to the rider.´

`I was pushing a lot with the qualifying tyre but unfortunately I went too wide at turn two and I came onto the grass on the exit. I thought I could take the bike back onto the track but, as soon as I touched the muddy grass I lost control and I couldn´t stop it,´ explained Rossi himself.

`Then I bumped my head and neck pretty hard when I landed in the gravel. It´s a pity that I will have to start from twelfth tomorrow, because this afternoon, with my Bridgestone race tyres, I had a very good pace.´

Rossi´s qualifying position is his worst of the season, and marks the first time that he has been off the front row in Australia since 2002.