UNLUCKY Adam Ellis faces a period on the sidelines after fracturing three vertebrae in a frightening Grand Prix Challenge crash.

The Poole Pirates and Swindon racer was set to win his final ride of the meeting at Gorican, which would have seen him finish on seven points, but he was brought down by Pole Krzysztof Kasprzak and suffered a heavy impact with the fence.

Ellis is expected to remain in hospital in Croatia over the coming days as the full extent of the damage is assessed.

 

He tweeted: “Not the way I was hoping tonight would go. Tough start, then starting going a bit better and desperately wanted to finish off with a win, but had a kiss with the fence instead.

“Had some scans and it turns out I've fractured three vertebrae, but I'm feeling pretty good.”

Despite the crash, Kasprzak belied his Polish Ekstraliga form to book a Grand Prix return for 2021 along with Slovenian Matej Zagar, who won the meeting for the second year running – whilst Oliver Berntzon of Sweden was a surprise qualifier and will make his series debut next year.