Ben Spies sure qualifying crash won't hamper his Laguna Seca MotoGP race chances

The Yamaha rider had a high-side at Turn 3 during qualifying at Laguna Seca. He appeared to be in discomfort just after the crash, but returned to the pits and was able to resume the session on his spare bike. Spies could not improve on his previous time, but had done enough to secure fourth on the grid.

He reckoned a lack of tyre temperature probably caused the incident.

"Today was OK, we obviously had a crash which was unfortunate as I think we could have got on the front row," said Spies.

"I was feeling really good, I just maybe didn't let the right side of the tyre heat up to quite the right temperature and had a pretty big high-side.

"Anyway we got back out and were able to do the same times as before the crash.

"I need to get some x-rays to check my heel as I took a big hit on it in the crash."

Team director Massimo Meregalli agreed that Spies would still be competitive in the race despite his accident.

"He's pretty consistent and happy with the bike set-up and hopefully tomorrow he will be 100 per cent fine to ride," said Meregalli.

"I'm pretty confident because he's finished all the practices in the top four and we know which tyre he is going to use."