Valentino Rossi frustrated by crash in qualifying for Indianapolis Grand Prix

The seven-time world champion lost the front end of his Ducati during the 10th minute of the session, forcing a switch to the spare bike for the remainder.

Afterwards Rossi said that the "slightly different set-up," of the spare GP11.1 had left him with no feeling from the front end and contributed to his second worst qualifying session of the year.

"We took a nice step forward this morning that we hoped to confirm in qualifying, and instead I fell right away," Rossi said. "We really could have done without that crash, but the front closed right when I touched the brake.

"From there, the whole session was difficult because the second bike had a slightly different setup. I lost one pair of new tyres and I had to start with a set of used ones. I wasn't able to get back the feeling from this morning, when the bike felt better and I could push harder.

"It's really a shame because we wanted to try to start from the second row again, like at Brno, and instead we'll have to work hard tomorrow. Anyway, we'll give our best effort in the race because we weren't so far off this morning."

Rossi's team-mate Nicky Hayden will start eighth, with the privateer Desmosedicis of Hector Barbera and Randy de Puniet among the bikes separating the pair.