De Puniet relieved to avoid injury

The Frenchman, who ultimately qualified fourth, lost control at turn six of the Sachsenring when he ran through the gravel trap and tumbled with the bike landing on top of him.

"On the last lap, I pushed very hard in T1 and T2 because normally they're not my strongest parts of the track," he said.

"By the end of T2 I was faster than pole position but, when I went in to turn six, I was going too fast and crashed but I'm lucky, I've just got some pain in my back and nothing's broken.

"My grid position isn't so bad but today I could have got pole. Still, I think my bike is ready for tomorrow, I managed consistent lap times today and yesterday's chatter is pretty much gone.

"We have a good set up and, if I can get a decent start, I feel we can do well."

Teammate Anthony West qualified in 12th spot in his third ever MotoGP weekend, and is hopeful for a good race.

"Our overall set-up's not too bad, there's still a bit of a problem with some vibration, but other than that the bike's feeling great and should be good for the race," he said.

"I'm really happy I've had time to try different things out here with the bike for a few days in the dry and yeah, I'm very pleased with my position."