Injured de Puniet keen to make race

The Pramac Ducati rider sustained the injuries in an early fall at Turn 5, but wants to ride in the warm-up on Sunday morning before deciding whether he is fit enough to make the race.

De Puniet suspected that cold tyres had led to the accident.

"I made a mistake trying to push when I just left the pits but the tyres were probably not yet ready," he said. "Really a shame because my feeling in this track was good in all the practice sessions. The physical pain is also strong, I move with difficulty, but tomorrow morning I want to try to get on the bike to see if I can participate in the race."

His team-mate Loris Capirossi is also in a compromised physical situation as he continues to recover from the shoulder and chest injuries he suffered in his Assen crash. He qualified one place behind de Puniet in 16th.

"It's really hard for us," Capirossi admitted in an interview with the official MotoGP website. "I think the team did a great job to find a solution to have easy riding, and it's a little bit better.

"But the problem I think is tomorrow the race is long - 32 laps. But we are here and I decided to come here. We can try to do our best. I think for me the first target is to finish the race. For me to get a couple of points would be great."