Hayden, Dovizioso defiant after falls.

'Dovi' was the first to go, the MotoGP rookie having previously ridden a brilliant race to keep his satellite Honda in close contact with the race leaders for the first 15 laps.

"I did a very good race and this makes me happy. I was able to maintain an astonishing rhythm and was half a second under my pace from the practice sessions. I never give up, as I want to try to stay with the lead group and get a good result for the team and myself.

"To be behind the top three riders was a great experience and I understood and learned a lot of things," said the Italian. "The crash was only because I was pushing at the very maximum, entering the corner so very hard and so I lost grip at the front. With my performance I don't think I can blame myself, these things happen."

Hayden, who had dropped back to seventh at the end of lap one, briefly inherited fourth position after Andrea's accident - but suffered the same fate just a lap later, while trying to close a two-second gap to Valentino Rossi.

"The first few laps were certainly not easy, some parts of the track were a little wetter than others and I had on a pretty hard tyre. I had been choosing between that tyre and another a little bit softer, but with the way the weather's been this weekend we really hadn't got to do a lot of endurance on the harder one," explained the Repsol Honda rider. "I got settled in, and the warmer I was getting the tyres the better they were working and I was able to start moving up, so things were feeling pretty good.

"I made a few passes, I'd just got into fourth, felt like I wanted to close the gap on the guys in front of me. You know, I got fourth place at Jerez and I certainly didn't want to settle in there and ride around, so I had to push hard and you know when you push hard you make mistakes. It's not a parade you can't just cruise around," he said of his fall.

"The bike was working good, the tyres were working good, I felt pretty comfortable, so I was pushing. Turn seven's downhill, certainly a trick corner, the front let go pretty early and down I went. It's unfortunate because the bike was working good and we were hungry for a good result, so my own mistake. We just have to step it up a bit," concluded the American.