LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow endured disappointment on his birthday as he had to settle for 15th place at the Malaysia Grand Prix. The Briton, who turned 32 on Sunday, was frustrated by a rear tyre issue at the Sepang International Circuit which ensured he was unable to challenge towards the front of the field at the penultimate round of this year’s MotoGP World Championship.
Having qualified down in tenth spot, Crutchlow always faced an uphill battle with more rain in Malaysia ensuring a wet race on Sunday. But an issue with a misshapen rear tyre meant he was unable to push hard at any point, leaving him lapping towards the back for the entirety of the race. Despite his obvious frustration, Crutchlow is already looking forward to the season’s finale in Valencia where he will look to sign off with a more positive result. Sunday’s race was won by Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso, ensuring his World Championship battle with Honda’s Marc Marquez will now go down to the final round.

#35 Cal Crutchlow – 15th (45’42.202)

“Today was a very tough day. To finish 15th in the rainy conditions is very disappointing, but we had a clear issue from the warm-up lap of the race so I just had to try and stay on the bike to collect some points. We’re obviously very disappointed as a team, and me as a rider, to have this issue, but we have to go to the last race of the year in Valencia with a positive mindset. I felt that we would be a lot more competitive in the rain today than what we have been, but we had something categorically wrong with the rear tyre of the bike. I had a lot of vibrations and I was in survival mode for the whole of the race. I was riding just trying to stay on the bike, only when it started to dry towards the end of the race was I able to really open the throttle of the bike in the correct way. But let’s wait and see what Valencia brings for us.”

Race results:

Source: motogp.com, lcr.mc