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Motor racing-Alonso given provisional clearance to race in China

SHANGHAI, April 14 (Reuters) - McLaren driver Fernando Alonso, who fractured ribs in the Formula One season's first race, has been given provisional clearance to race in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, the governing International Automobile Federation said on Thursday. The FIA said in a statement after the Spaniard had a medical at the Shanghai track that he would have a further examination immediately after Friday's first free practice session "to determine his further eligibility." Alonso was forced to sit out the last race in Bahrain on doctors' orders after he failed a medical following an horrific accident in the Australian Grand Prix that left him with fractured ribs. The double world champion was replaced by Belgian reserve Stoffel Vandoorne in Bahrain. (Reporting by Abhishek Takle and Alan Baldwin, editing by John Stonestreet)