Battered Guintoli expects to race

Guintoli, in his last appearance for the team before stepping down to the British Superbike Championship, fell in the final 10 minutes of second practice, leaving him extremely sore but without any broken bones.

"I have so much pain in my behind after today's fall. I can't even sit down," said Guintoli.

"I also landed really hard on my left knee, I thought it was something serious, but it seems that also here is just a big bruise.

"I hope that tomorrow all this pain will go away so I can be at my best for the last qualifying session of the season."

The accident took the shine off an impressive day for Guintoli, who thrived in the wet conditions to take fifth in the morning and eighth in second practice - although he felt he could have done better but for his accident.

"The track improved in the last few minutes and if I was on track I would have done much better than the eighth place," Guintoli said.

His teammate Toni Elias also crashed in second practice, and struggled for pace all day, ending practice in last position.

"Because of the conditions we have basically wasted a day," he said. "I hope to find better track conditions tomorrow. I don't like to be so far behind in the classification."