Cal Crutchlow had a decent start from fifteenth on the grid but did lose four positions before crossing the start-finish line for the first time. However, after an eventful opening lap the Briton started to find his rhythm. He overtook Maverick Viñales on lap 2 and started a battle with Luca Marini on lap 3. Crutchlow and Marini swapped positions multiple times, but it was the Yamaha man who came out victorious. Having secured 17th place, it looked like the remainder of the race would be a lonely ride for the Brit. Yet he kept his head down, using it as a good opportunity work on being one with the YZR-M1. His dedication was rewarded when he gained another place overtaking Johann Zarco. The number-35 kept focused on his own race and was making further strides. He had Danilo Petrucci in his sights but came just 0.690s short of claiming a championship point. Crutchlow finished the race in 16th place, 26.413s from the front.
#35 Cal Crutchlow – P16 – + 26,413
“I did enjoy it, and that’s the main thing. Enjoying the race and getting the information for Yamaha was our aim for this weekend. I’m disappointed with my position, but my position was severely hampered after the first lap contact with I think it was Alex Marquez. I had made a great start to eleventh already. I had the pace for a top 10 today I believe, but I ran off track, ran across the grass, came back on track, and then I hit another rider. I was back in 20th or something. I had to make up some positions, that was okay. I got held up by Marini after this, then I came across a 2s gap to the group in front of me. We struggled today, but it was good for information. I was pleased with my pace when I was not battling or something like that, which is positive. This means we can keep testing in a good way, because I will be testing here in two weeks’ time again.
Race results
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time / Gap |
1 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati Lenovo Team | 41’44.422 |
2 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | +0.673 |
3 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 3.911 |
4 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 9.269 |
5 | Jack MILLER | Ducati Lenovo Team | 11.928 |
6 | Enea BASTIANINI | Avintia Esponsorama | 13.757 |
7 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 14.064 |
8 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 16.575 |
9 | Jorge MARTIN | Pramac Racing | 16.615 |
10 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 16.904 |
11 | Iker LECUONA | Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing | 17.124 |
12 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 17.710 |
13 | Pol ESPARGARO | Repsol Honda Team | 19.680 |
14 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 22.703 |
15 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing | 25.723 |
16 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 26.413 |
17 | Johann ZARCO | Pramac Racing | 26.620 |
18 | Maverick VIÑALES | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 27.128 |
19 | Valentino ROSSI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 32.517 |
20 | Luca MARINI | SKY VR46 Avintia | 39.073 |
not classified | |||
Jake DIXON | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 22 Laps | |
Alex MARQUEZ | LCR Honda CASTROL | 0 Lap |
Source: motogp.com, yamahamotogp.com