Bautista aggravates injury in crash

The Suzuki rider broke his shoulder when he fell when on a Motocross bike in mid-May. It has hampered his form since, but the problem had eased recently - and he was a top five contender early in practice in Spain before his crash.

"It has been a bit of a disappointing day for me because, at the beginning I started with a lot of confidence and less pain in my arm - I was able to ride like I wanted to for the first time since my accident," Bautista said.

"The bike felt really good, I was able to control it well through the corners and the package felt much better. I had a nice rhythm going, but on my second run I had a problem in Turn 4 and I wasn't able to control the bike.

"I grabbed the clutch, but I ran wide and I had to crash in the gravel because the wall was coming towards me very quickly.

"I have to visit the clinic now because I feel a bit more pain after today's crash and I hope that I will be okay for tomorrow."

Team boss Paul Denning confirmed that the accident was due to a technical problem and not an error by Bautista, and was encouraged by his pace prior to the crash.

"Our potential seems much better than last weekend, but it's impossible to go from the back to being completely competitive in one step," said Denning, whose squad has struggled to break into the top ten recently.

"The biggest disappointment of the session was Alvaro's crash - which was no fault of his own. The potential he had shown to get into the mid 1m44s on his fifth lap indicates that there is quite a lot more to come when he is back on the bike with his favoured setting."

Bautista ended the session in 12th, one place behind team-mate Loris Capirossi.