LCR Honda man Cal Crutchlow salvaged three points out of a treacherous San Marino Grand Prix at the Misano circuit on Sunday. With heavy rain falling throughout the day the 28-lap race presented danger at every turn, but the British rider navigated his way safely through the early laps and was sat comfortably in fifth, just behind the lead group of four. However he was soon embroiled in a battle with former LCR Honda team-mate Jack Miller, and even though he dispatched the Australian, he went to ground soon after.

Following that setback, Crutchlow rushed to his bike to remount, and despite some clear damage he then began the task of closing down the riders in front of him. With 22 laps still to go, Cal eventually picked off enough rivals to finish the race in 13th place and collect three valuable points for his championship account.

#35 Cal Crutchlow – 13th

“I felt really good, I felt comfortable and confident. I knew after ten laps that I could probably start pushing, I didn’t want to take too many risks early and I ended up flying as high as I have in a long time. It was my own mistake, no fault of anyone else. I wanted Jack and the rest behind me, but as soon as I passed him I crashed. I was confident that I could come back across the gap to Dovizioso and maybe even Marquez at that time, but I just pushed too hard and crashed out.

“I got back on though, and got some points. It was a difficult, long race with the handlebar touching the tank and no footrest! I did what I had to do, but I’m sorry to the LCR Honda team because we could have had a good result today. I don’t know if we would have won the race, but I think we could have definitely been with Dovi. In the condition I’m in we’ve done well all weekend, I’ve felt good all the way through and we can take those positives away from here. We were fast in both wet and dry, but I made a mistake in the race and that’s what cost me.”