Ben Spies frustrated - but uninjured - after practice crash at Valencia
Ben Spies said his crash in afternoon practice at Valencia was frustrating, but did not make too much difference to his physical condition
The American is still sore from his accident in Australian Grand Prix qualifying three weeks ago, and fell again when he touched the white marker line on the entry to Turn 1 in today's second session.
But he said the discomfort he felt afterwards was standard for a violent crash, rather than it having exacerbated the head and rib injuries from Phillip Island.
"I'm a little beat up but that's normal after a crash," said Spies.
"I got a little wide over the white line and hit a puddle and hydroplaned the front, lost it and went down. The bike was starting to feel pretty good and we were getting up to speed.
"It's not the best way to come back, I'm not really happy about it but we'll look forward to tomorrow and make it better.
"We made a change at the beginning of the second session which was bad, then went back to the settings from the morning and were making progress so we'll continue with that set-up in final practice."
But team director Massimo Meregalli was concerned that the crash could potentially have implications for the rest of the weekend.
"Unfortunately Ben crashed today and hit his shoulder on the ground," said Meregalli.
"For sure this isn't going to help his physical condition over the weekend as he's pretty sore. Hopefully he can manage the pain and keep pushing to deliver as strong results as possible."
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