Ben Spies and Randy de Puniet were lucky to escape serious injury when they fell on Jorge Lorenzo's oil during Saturday's qualifying session for the German Grand Prix (pictured).
The world championship leader's M1 expired spectacularly along the home straight with 26 minutes of the one hour session to go, leaving a trail of oil which sent Spies and then de Puniet flying off the track at turn one.
Spies got back and track and qualified 13th on his spare bike
"I'd only been riding one bike this weekend and that got tore up in the crash [and] the best I could do on the spare bike was match the times I managed on the number one bike. The one decent lap I was on at the end that would have put me a row ahead, de Angelis crashed in front of me at the top of the hill and that just upset my lap.
"Before that though the incident at the first corner was crucial," recalled the American. "I'd just finished my stint and was pulling in at the end of the lap to start going for a qualifying time. All of a sudden I was on the ground and I hadn't really tipped in.
"I saw de Puniet's bike fly right past me and. I walked over to his bike and looked at the front tyre and saw it had oil all over it so I knew there was nothing I could do. Luckily I'm fine and will give it my best shot tomorrow."
Having been pitched off his bike, de Puniet - who is benefitting from upgraded electronics kit from HRC - had slammed into Spies' Monster Yamaha as it lay in the gravel, sustaining a minor leg injury which prevented him from taking any further part in the session.
Nevertheless, the LCR Honda rider will still qualified seventh.
“What can I say? I am lucky because all my bones are whole! We have been working good with the new software and I was up there for the whole session," said Randy. "I was on my last lap on hard tyre and was ready to come in to swap on soft ones but suddenly Jorge's engine blew up on the straight and after few seconds the surface was full of oil.
"It happened too quick and nobody had the time to react or to display the board. Spies crashed in front of me and I did the same onto his bike hurting myself heavily. After last year's left ankle fracture I was seriously worried about my conditions but it's just a scratch of the right tibia. But it aches very much!
"Of course I won't be at 100% for tomorrow but my race pace is quite good and will do my best to take as many points as possible."
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