Suzuki's Ben Spies just injured his right hand in a qualifying crash. The championship leader crashed when either a) he tangled with Cory West or b) he highsided. Spies went down in turn three in the opening moments of the session.

Currently, Spies is in the lounge area of the Yoshimura truck. We have just been told Spies intends to try to qualify in this session despite the injury.

Spies leads teammate Mat Mladin by 45 points with five races to go.

More info as we get it.

Update: With 20 minutes to go in the session, Spies just returned to the track, went one flying lap at 1:25.779 (good for second fastest at the time) and returned to the pits.