Cal Crutchlow had to settle for eighth position in the Grand Prix of Aragon after a difficult start scuppered his hopes of challenging at the front of the field. The LCR Honda CASTROL rider was on the pace throughout free practice and had qualified on the front row for Sunday’s race, but lost a host of positions after being crowded out at the first corner and battled back to secure a top-10 finish.

Crutchlow initially looked to have got away well, but was forced off his line at the end of the home straight and found himself down in 12th by the start of lap two. The Briton showed consistent pace to make up positions throughout the race, though, passing Petrucci, Quartararo and Miller, but could not find a way past Andrea Dovizioso on the final lap as he ended in eighth.


Cal Crutchlow – 8th

“Obviously, this is not the result we expected today. On the warm-up lap, we had a problem in the back straight with the clutch slipping on the bike a lot. So when I came to the grid I wasn’t sure how much to push the clutch off the start line because if I’d have really pushed the clutch I’d have been in a lot more trouble in the race. I had a lot of clutch slipping in the first laps until about lap three and then it continued less until lap six. But at that point I was in 12th position and I had to battle back through. The best result I could do was eighth place which I’m pleased with after the difficult moments at the start. I think we did a good job, now we have to look forward to next week and take some positives from today.”