Hector Barbera fractures vertebra in Moto GP crash

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Spanish rider Hector Barbera crashed during a Moto GP practice Friday and suffered a fractured vertebra.

The Pramac Racing Team Ducati rider was removed from the track on a stretcher and taken to Methodist Hospital after the accident. The team said neurological scans were negative, but other details were not immediately available.

Barbera will be replaced by Toni Elias for this Sunday's race. Elias was the 2010 Indianapolis Moto2 winner.

Barbera was trying to return after breaking both bones in his lower left leg in a training accident on July 20. He missed the U.S. Grand Prix on July 29 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

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