Pascal Picotte was a late crasher in today's session as he low-sided his Ducati 998 in the chicane, according to team owner Mitch Hansen. The bike came back on the crash truck but the worst problem with the machine was that the bodywork was filled with grass.

Picotte's best time was a 1:50.2 according to his team. And that's without the fuel injection system being perfect, as the team's computer guy Vito Bolognese is stuck in Europe thanks to a visa hold up.

"I'm sure we'd drop a second a lap when the fuel injection is right," said team owner Hansen.

For the record, Scott Russell qualified at 1:50.8 last March on the Ducati with a Q tire.