The incident occurred when de Puniet made a lunge for the apex, but lost control of his Kawasaki and collected Pedrosa, whose Repsol Honda team-mate Hayden was then forced to take evasive action.
"I don't know what happened, we have to check the data because when I tried to change direction, entering the left corner, I lost the rear, touched Pedrosa and crashed. I don't know if I used the rear brake or not, I want to check our data so I have a better idea about what happened," said de Puniet. "Obviously, I'm disappointed. I feel I did really well over the weekend so, to finish the race at the second corner is not very good. Luckily, there aren't any big injuries: the footpeg went in to my back when I crashed, and that hurts, but it's nothing major. But yes, obviously, I'm not very happy."
Pedrosa was visibly livid on the side of the circuit immediately after his elimination, but had calmed down by the time he returned to the pits.
"It's a real shame about this crash because I made a good start and had a chance to get away with the leaders. I was just turning into Turn Two when I was hit on the inside and really that was the first I knew about it," he explained. "There is always a possibility that this kind of crash can happen in the first few corners of a race, especially at a tight circuit like this. It's just unfortunate that this is the second time it has happened to me this season because someone hit me in Turkey as well. The only positive thing is that I am not hurt."
After a trip through the gravel, Hayden - who had qualified third on the grid - rejoined a distant 16th and finished 13th at the chequered flag.
