Hayden relieved crash wasn't worse

Elias bumped Hayden wide at Turn 1 on the opening lap. While Elias fell and retired, the world champion kept his bike upright and cut across the grass before rejoining at the back of the pack.

Hayden said he was worried that he might run back onto the track at right angles to the field, potentially causing a massive accident.

"I started going downhill and the bikes were coming from the right," he said. "It could have got real ugly, real fast. I just managed to find some pavement to brake on."

The accident left Hayden with considerable damage to his fairing, but he continued to finish 12th.

"There was a lot of damage," he said. "The bodywork was rubbing inside the swingarm and the swingarm was damaged too. The first time down the back straight I was pretty worried if there was a problem."

Hayden set his fastest lap on lap 18 of 22 but still felt there was more he could have done without the grass-tracking run on lap one.