Following Jorge Lorenzo was easy until MotoGP crash - Andrea Iannone

Iannone ran in third place early, before moving past team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who jumped from fifth to second at the start.

Trailing Lorenzo's leading Yamaha by one second at the start of the seventh lap, Iannone set the fastest two first sectors of the race up until that point, before crashing.

When asked if he felt he had the pace to challenge Lorenzo and fight for Ducati's first victory in five-and-a-half years, Iannone replied: "I think yes.

"Because for all of the weekend we showed a very good pace, a very good potential, very good performance and I had a very good feeling with the bike.

"I rode without difficulty. I rode very, very easy and [it was] not important to push very, very hard to ride fast and I'm very happy for this.

"I don't know in 28 laps what happens, but we - before the crash - had a very good pace, and why not?"

When he joined the factory Ducati outfit at the start of 2015 after two seasons with the Pramac outfit, Iannone was a model of consistency, finishing all of the first 14 races inside the top eight, including 11 top fives.

In the nine races since - four at the end of 2015 and five this year - he has finished only three times, with crashes coming as Ducati assesses whether Iannone or team-mate Andrea Dovizioso will partner the incoming Lorenzo next season.

"Last year, when I rode I understood everything," he said.

"I understood the feeling with the front, I understood the feeling with the bike.

"This year, also everything is OK when I ride in the race.

"But suddenly in a moment everything changes.

"This is very bad situation for everybody, but I hope it's the last time we have this."