Rossi relieved to avoid injury

The Yamaha rider explained that he had been caught out by a quirk of the resurfaced track.

"Where they put the new asphalt, it's not completely flat," Rossi said.

"There's two or three centimetres between the track and the kerb. I was already on full throttle for 30 metres, so (it happened) just before I changed to fourth (gear).

"The problem was I went exactly between the white line and the start of the kerbs on the edge, and the rear started (moving) very aggressively. I didn't expect it, because I was already on the straight.

"I was lucky because I had already finished the corner, so when I crashed I slid a lot on the track, in the right way. I slowed down a lot. When I went on the gravel I was already very slow.

"I have a hole in the small finger - I'm lucky. I hope I won't have a problem for riding."

Rossi said he had only been marginally off-line when he lost control.

"The problem is I found exactly the wrong place," he said. "I sometimes go on the kerb on that corner, a lot of people do, on the kerbs is better. I go just in the centre, so I make a mistake of five centimetres."

Aside from the accident, Rossi felt Yamaha and Michelin were lacking speed relative to title rival Casey Stoner's Ducati-shod Bridgestone, which has been fastest in all three practice sessions, and was keen to try some solutions in qualifying.

"Bridgestone this morning are quite fast, faster than us, and Stoner is always very fast," he said.

"This afternoon for me is important, first to try to start at the front, and because I have two ways to set up the bike, so I have to try and I have to decide for tomorrow.

"One is more soft and one is more hard. One engine is a little more aggressive. So I have to decide the way to follow for tomorrow."