Stoner praises safety after crash

The Ducati rider lost the front end of his bike at nearly 120mph at the Waterfall corner.

Despite the high speed, Stoner walked away from the crash with just friction burns to his elbows thanks to the asphalt run-off.

"This morning we were really struggling with the front tyre," said Stoner, who despite his accident dominated the session. "The rear was working really well, but basically only got nine laps out of the front.

"We changed the bike quite a lot for this afternoon and now we have absolutely no problems. We used the same tyre for the whole session.

"It was the left side of the tyre [we were having problems with] but I crashed on the right. It was a little bit strange because I hadn't had a warning through that corner, or any of the right-hand corners through the whole session, and then it just decided to go as I was starting to pick the bike up to head down the hill. You are not really over a long way there, but it sure hurts when you crash!

"The problem is that the only part that hurt me was the Tarmac. I have got burns on my elbows and my leg, so we will have to see how they are when I take my leathers off.

"But the safety of that corner is pretty damn good. I crashed there a couple of years ago and Alex Barros crashed there last year and we came out of it all right so... I was just trying to stay as flat as possible and make sure I didn't do any flips and tumbles and I came out of it pretty good."

The Australian, winner of the last two races, finished nearly half a second quicker than second-placed Alex de Angelis and he was pleased with his progress.

"We are out there and putting our arses on the line all the time as you have seen today. We are doing the best job we all can and we have just managed to find a real good package for me. The team and everybody is working so well."