Fracture a 'nasty surprise' for Iannone

Andrea Iannone received a 'nasty surprise' just days before his and the Ducati team's home MotoGP round at Mugello.

Iannone was diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder after falling in a private test at the circuit just before Le Mans, where he braved the pain to claim fifth place in the French race.

But an MRI scan yesterday also revealed a hairline fracture at the tip of his humerus bone.

"For sure on Sunday I will race at Mugello but it's going to be difficult for me to be 100% fit," Iannone admitted. "A couple of days ago I stopped taking pain-killers and yesterday I did an MRI scan. Unfortunately they found a hairline fracture at the tip of my funny bone, and to be sincere that was a bit of a nasty surprise.

"The swelling still causes me a lot of pain and I am continuing to do laser therapy in an attempt to get it to go down as soon as possible. In any case, I'll have to grit my teeth like I did at Le Mans, because it's far too important for me and for Ducati to have a good race in front of the Mugello fans."

Iannone, who took his first MotoGP podium on his factory Ducati debut in Qatar, is fifth in the world championship.