Heroic fifth for Crutchlow

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team celebrated its first double top 10 result of the 2013 MotoGP campaign in Jerez today, with Cal Crutchlow riding to a heroic fifth place and rookie Bradley Smith storming to a maiden top 10 finish.

Crutchlow displayed phenomenal determination and bravery to bounce back from two heavy crashes yesterday to maintain his 100% record of finishing every race inside the top five this season.

The British rider was engaged in an exciting early fight with Valentino Rossi for fourth before he got locked into an intense tussle with Alvaro Bautista shortly before the halfway stage of the 27-lap encounter.

In scenes reminiscent of their titanic battle for the podium in Japan last October, Bautista seized fifth from Crutchlow on lap 11. But riding through the pain barrier in gruelling heat that saw temperatures hit 27 degrees under clear blue skies, Crutchlow fought back superbly to take back fifth on lap 17. He then produced a master class in aggressive riding to streak away from Bautista and claim a third successive top five finish by almost three seconds.

Cal Crutchlow 5th – 35 points:  

“Fifth place today is not a bad result considering everything that has gone on before but it’s not exactly what we expected. I was fast all weekend but after the two crashes yesterday I think it’s a very good result to remain the best of the rest. I did not feel very confident with the front-end in the race, but I think all Yamaha’s struggled in this area. I think in the middle of the race my pace was good and I started to push but with the full fuel tank I could not stop the bike and I had no grip, so I lost quite a bit of time in the early laps. Physically I had no problem on the bike for the race distance although I had a little bit of pain in my lower back. It has been a difficult weekend in many respects so I am very satisfied with fifth because probably last year I would not have finished the race in the same situation and that’s for sure an improvement.” 

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager:  

“Cal did amazing all weekend, even though the two high-speed crashes yesterday meant he faced a very tough race. But he showed his fighting spirit and he had a good fight with Valentino at the beginning of the race and with Bautista afterwards. He managed to pass Bautista and was able to follows Rossi’s pace and it is a shame he was a few seconds behind him because I’m sure he could have fought for fourth. Cal clearly demonstrated once again that he is the best of the rest. He is still fifth in the Championship and just a few points behind Valentino and this is very encouraging. We leave Jerez very confident for the upcoming challenges, and the next one will be our all-important home race in Le Mans where we are already really excited about going there.”