Cal Crutchlow produced the ride of his MotoGP career in Le Mans today to claim a heroic podium in the home race of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.
Just 24 hours after a heavy practice crash left him with a fracture in his right leg, the British rider showed amazing skill, concentration and courage to finish second in a 28-lap race run in the toughest conditions imaginable.
Crutchlow was the lead Yamaha rider home at the end of a race that started on a perilously slippery and wet surface after heavy rain fell in the build-up. Visibility and calculating grip levels were major early challenges but Crutchlow quickly gained his confidence and he sliced through the field with some outstanding overtakes.
The 27-year-old stormed through from seventh to second with measured moves on reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso, an impressive feat considering how tough it was to master constantly changing conditions and grip levels on a rapidly drying track.
Crutchlow’s career best MotoGP result and first rostrum of 2013 was secured on lap 24 when he attacked former Tech 3 teammate Dovizioso and today’s outstanding performance moved the former World Supersport Champion into fourth place in the World Championship standings with four of 18 rounds completed.
A career best MotoGP result to date was also being hailed on the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team garage after Bradley Smith raced his YZR-M1 to a determined ninth position.
The slippery track surface had an immediate impact on Smith’s race. He suffered a big rear tyre slide while accelerating off the line and it was only the lightning reflexes of the 22-year-old that saved him from a fall.
He dropped right to the back of the field but despite only having very limited experience of the YZR-M1 in wet conditions, Smith’s recent attempts to smoothen his riding style proved vital this afternoon.
Smith quickly established a fast rhythm and as his confidence grew he was able to deliver a fantastic fight back into the top 10. His rousing recovery to ninth moves him to the brink of the top 10 in the World Championship classification on 17 points.
Cal Crutchlow 2nd- 55 points:
“I’m really happy to get my best ever result in MotoGP and the whole team did an incredible job and deserves this result. We showed our fast pace in the dry, we showed our pace in the wet and I think everybody is aware we are not here through luck. It’s even better and more important because this is the home race for Tech 3 and Monster Energy sponsors the event. So to be the best and only Yamaha on the podium feels really good. My start was not the best and it took me a bit of time to get temperature into the tyres. But once I managed that I felt really comfortable. When I saw Andrea and Dani opening a small gap to Valentino I had to make a move because I was afraid they would be too far ahead to try and catch later in the race. And when I saw Marquez recovering time on my pit board I had to pass Andrea otherwise he might have caught both of us during the last laps. I’m really happy with how things went, especially after the crash yesterday. The wet track obviously put less stress on my body but it was tough riding injured in such tough conditions. From now on I just hope we can be injury free and go to Mugello to put on the same show as we did here today.”
Bradley Smith 9th – 17 points:
“Today was a really good learning experience. I’d hardly ridden the YZR-M1 in the rain before, so to get 28 laps under my belt in really tricky conditions was obviously an experience that taught me a lot. During the race I was able to ride a lot smoother and I hope I can carry over something from this experience to the dry in the future. I’m a little bit disappointed with the start of the race. I had a problem with the clutch in the warm up but we were sure it was just because this was my first start in the wet but apparently it was not. But after the first 10 laps to the end of the race I had a very good pace and I’m happy with the improvement made during the whole weekend with ninth position in qualifying and also ninth in the race. That’s my best MotoGP result and gives my confidence another lift, so now I’m really looking forward to going to Mugello, which is a track I can’t wait to ride a MotoGP bike on. Congratulations also to Cal. He rode an awesome race and in an important race for Tech 3 and Monster Energy it was great to see both of us having such a positive result.”
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Press Release
