Injured riders admit to struggling

Gresini Honda's Elias is in his second race back after breaking his leg at Assen, while Pramac d'Antin Ducati rider Hofmann returned to action in Italy five weeks after sustaining a serious hand injury when hit by Sylvain Guintoli in Laguna Seca practice.

The German struggled to last place on the Misano grid, 2.7 seconds off the pace, but said he was not surprised that he was finding the going tough on his comeback.

"I am happy to be racing again after the serious accident that I suffered in Laguna Seca," Hofmann said.

"It is normal that after several weeks of inactivity and an intense rehabilitation of my hand, that I would tire after a few laps."

But he is optimistic that he can move forward in the race.

"Tomorrow I expect to improve my result in the race because the race tyre behaves better for me than the qualification tyre," he said.

Elias took 11th on his return at Brno last month and had been confident that he would be in much better shape for Misano.

But in the event the twisty nature of the circuit left him ailing.

"My physical condition has improved compared to Brno but this weekend I'm actually in more pain," Elias admitted.

"I'm really struggling with my leg because there are so many direction changes, a lot of braking and you can never rest.

"Tomorrow in the race I'll have to try and be economical with my strength. My objective is to improve my result from Brno."