De Puniet's knee injury worsens

The Kawasaki rider crashed on lap two of the Mugello race, but initially believed he had escape with only minor knee damage, only for his condition to deteroriate later in the week.

"After the crash at Mugello, I thought my knee would be fine by now but, unfortunately, it got worse and I suffered an internal haemorrhage," de Puniet said.

"The joint doubled in size and, even though it's a little better now, Spidi has had to make me a new leather suit with a knee joint 10cm wider than usual!

"It wasn't painful until I got on the bike but I'm sure as soon as the swelling goes down, so will the pain. I just need to rest a little now."

His teammate Olivier Jacque is also nursing an injury, but he believes the arm lacerations that he sustained in China are now almost completely healed.

"Today I felt, physically, much better than in Mugello," said Jacque.

"I have almost all the arm's strength back which allows me to be more precise when I'm riding. Now I can set the bike up to race rather than trying to compensate for any handicap."