Eugene Laverty was 18th on his Grand Prix debut

Laverty moved up from his grid position of 24th on his LCR Honda and he was just two positions off a points finish.

Reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain won the race, guiding his Aprilia home ahead of San Marino's Alex De Angelis and Spain's Hector Barbera.

Jeremy McWilliams was ruled out of Saturday's MotoGP race after crashing in final qualifying on Friday.

An X-ray later revealed no break to the femur McWilliams broke in a crash last year but the Northern Ireland rider was not judged to be fit enough to take part in Saturday's race.

The Northern Ireland man's best time of 1:59.606 was over 4.5 seconds slower than pole position man Valentino Rossi.

The 42-year-old was able to walk from the circuit ambulance to the medical centre after the session but his hopes of being allowed to race were later dashed.

"Unfortunately I've damaged the same leg that I injured before Christmas but I've been told that I will be alright for the next race in Jerez," said McWilliams.

"The doctors have told me that there is some bleeding in the muscle."