Britain's Bradley Smith will have to undergo a skin graft on his finger after it trapped under his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1 in a big highside in today's second MotoGP free practice at Mugello.

The youngster was spat off on the exit of Savelli and didn't manage to clear himself from the bike, taking a lot of skin off his left little finger and cracking his scaphoid. His team put the crash down to a cold tyre as he did nothing differently to previous laps, his best of which was good enough for eighth place.

“It is a shame that Bradley suffered a big crash today because he was looking very strong and confident. We know he loves this track and he showed that his confidence is growing with the YZR-M1 because he was sixth in difficult conditions this morning and eighth when he crashed this afternoon," said team boss Herve Poncharal.

"We have checked the data and he was not doing anything different in that corner compared to his fastest lap in the session. He had exactly the same speed but it seems he was on a brand new tyre that hadn’t reached working temperature. It is a pity because I am sure he could have finished inside the top 10, but what happened unfortunately can be part of the learning experience in MotoGP.

"Fortunately he has no broken bones because he landed heavily but the little finger on his left hand was quite badly damaged. The Clinica Mobile staff said he can race and I know they will do a fantastic job in getting him the very best treatment and ensure he is as prepared as possible for what will be a very difficult race. He will need a skin graft next week though.”