Crutchlow battles hard for precious points at Laguna Seca

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow rode to a hard fought seventh place finish in today’s US MotoGP round at a sun-kissed Laguna Seca.

The British rider displayed the fighting spirit he has become famous for throughout an energy-sapping 32-lap race, but he was unable to make any impression on the top six despite pushing to his absolute maximum from start to finish.

The 27-year-old, who was seeking to become the first British rider since the legendary Barry Sheene to score three successive podium finishes in the premier class, exerted tremendous early pressure on Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa to break into the top six.

The Spanish duo showed just why they are consistent World Championship contenders, with both refusing to buckle under Crutchlow’s intense pressure and rather than take unnecessary risks, Crutchlow opted to settle for a seventh position that keeps him close to the battle for the top three in the overall rankings.

Cal Crutchlow 5th – 116 points :

“That was a difficult end to a very difficult weekend and in all honesty I never got comfortable with the bike at any stage here. It is my worst result of the season so far and I can’t be happy because I gave up some valuable points in the Championship. Maybe last year in the same situation I would have pushed and not finished, so that is one positive we can take from what was a tough weekend and it certainly isn’t how I wanted to go into the summer break. Right from the start of the race I was on the limit and couldn’t go any faster. I got beat fair and square and the three on the podium definitely deserved it. I tried my best and didn’t give up but sometimes you have to accept you can’t do any better. It has been a pretty hectic month so now I am looking forward to getting some rest and I will be back even more motivated in Indianapolis.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager

 “Unfortunately we can’t have Cal and Bradley inside the top six like in Germany every week and we knew coming here it wasn’t going to be easy. Laguna Seca has never been a happy hunting ground for us but of course we expected to show more of our true potential. Cal might have lost come confidence when he crashed in FP4 but he has found it difficult all weekend. He never gave up and kept on pushing and he still got some important points for the Championship. And we can’t be too disappointed because Cal has been outstanding in the first half of the season and produced some of the best races we have seen in our MotoGP history."