The American, who was sidelined in Friday's practice sessions ahead of the San Marino GP due to the aggravation of a rib injury, could only set the 17th fastest time today while looking for the right set up for his Ninja ZX-RR.
"It's been a real task today as we've been on the back foot because I had to sit out practice yesterday," he said.
"My rib injury is definitely improving and I feel much more comfortable on the bike, but a lack of time on track has caused us quite a headache. We've struggled mainly with the front-end of the machine and this track is completely different from Brno, so we had a lot of setting changes to make.
"I had to squeeze a lot into the two hours on track and we had to wait until the afternoon heat, which will be similar to that of the race, before we could try to find a useable race tyre. Then we had to fit in qualifying too, and our final position today reflects this.
"My crew chief has a lot of ideas about the areas we need to change and we will review the data overnight to see where we can make significant improvements during tomorrow's warm-up."
Teammate Anthony West had an even more difficult session than Hopkins as he qualified 18th and last, more a second behind the American.
The Australian, who had his career-best finish in the last race with a fifth place in the Czech GP, complained of more problems with the front end of his bike.
"It's frustrating to come here after such a great weekend in Brno only to end up at the back of the field," he said.
"We tried many different set-up changes to provide me with more confidence in the front of the bike, but nothing really brought much of an improvement. I can't brake hard into the turns, and this makes it difficult to put a fast lap together.
"We have to find an improvement overnight and I am sure that tomorrow's race will be tough, but we have to keep pushing forwards to achieve the results we have shown we are capable of."
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