Aragon MotoGP: Ducati's Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden rue crashes

Both men fell without injury during the session, before ending up eighth and ninth on the grid, Rossi ahead.

"I'll start on the third row, that's not a disaster," said Rossi.

"I'm too far from the pole position but unfortunately I had a crash that made us lose some important time.

"But I'm lucky and happy that nothing [serious] happened and I'm OK."

Hayden's fall came right at the end of qualifying.

"At times we weren't too far off, but then when we put in my last tyre at the end, I lost the front in the middle of the last corner," he said.

"I picked it up, but I was headed right for the wall. I just touched the brakes, and with slicks on wet grass, that was it.

"We certainly could have done without that, but luckily it wasn't a big one.

"This was the first time I was able to really ride the new chassis in the dry, but I need more set-up time with it."

Rossi reckons Ducati is on the back foot in Spain as while it had chosen to test at San Marino Grand Prix venue Misano earlier in the month, main rivals Honda and Yamaha had run at Aragon.

"We had the opposite compared to Misano - a small disadvantage compared to all the Yamahas that came here to test, so it was very important for us to get some laps in the dry," he said.

"We have to improve the bike, especially for acceleration and traction at this racetrack. It's very difficult to have good traction so we have to work from this point of view."