Spills in Qatar

Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet both escaped injury from crashes today at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.

New Honda recruit Nakano crashed at the penultimate corner as he failed to control his Konica Minolta RC212V as he careered into the gravel trap.

French rider de Puniet crashed this morning during a tyre test for Bridgestone and he too walked away unscathed.

Nakano, who finished the second day with the seventh best time as he clipped a massive 0.9s off his best timed lap set yesterday, said: “I was too hot in the next to last corner and I couldn’t stop the bike in the gravel.

“It was jumping across the gravel and I just slid off.”

Factory Kawasaki rider de Puniet lost the front of his ZX-RR as he ended today eighth quickest, 0.5s faster than he managed on the opening day.

His team-mate Olivier Jacque is expected to return to action tomorrow after missing today’s seven hours of track time after his huge crash yesterday left him with concussion.