Cal Crutchlow had an afternoon to forget at Misano as the opportunity of a second successive podium passed him by. The Briton started second after the problems affecting Dani Pedrosa but lost three places off the line before crashing on lap five.
“I got a really bad start from the front row and quickly lost a couple of places. Actually it was not that I missed the lights but I released the clutch and nothing happened because the clutch was already out and that was my mistake”, he explained. “Luckily I managed to stay in fifth position but then it was really difficult to pass Andrea (Dovizioso). On lap four I could see I was catching him a little but he is a demon on the brakes and I was also having a problem stopping the bike with a full fuel load. I wanted to pass him at the first corner but as soon as I got in the middle of the corner I lost the front. I got a bang on my left leg and thought it might be injured but the feeling came back quickly and I could have got back in the race. But the right handlebar was badly bent so the throttle didn’t move. I am disappointed because looking at how the race unfolded I gave up a great chance to be back on the podium. Rossi and Bradl recovered quite a few points on me too today, so I need to get back on track in Aragon to make sure I keep fifth place in the World Championship.”
With Crutchlow’s demise, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s hopes rested on Andrea Dovizioso and the Italian came agonisingly close to a sixth podium in 2012. Dovizioso lost out in a photo finish with Alvaro Bautista and like his teammate, didn’t enjoy the smoothest of races.
“It is a pity to finish so close to the podium in my home race because I really wanted to make the top three for the first time in Misano. It was a difficult race right from the start because I had a problem with the front and could not brake hard and enter the corners like during the practice. That meant I had to change my lines and I was not as fast as I expected and I could not catch Valentino and I could not push. I just had to ride smooth and at the end my feeling improved a bit because I could at least fight for the podium. It is a pity I couldn’t take third from Alvaro but I ran wide exiting the final corner. I did my best and the good thing is that despite a difficult race I was still battling for the podium right to the very end. We still scored some very important points for the Championship and hopefully with a better feeling with the bike I can be back on the podium at the Motorland Aragon.”
Andrea Dovizioso dives past Stefan Bradl for fourth – Photo Credit: Tech 3
Team Manager Herve Poncharal was left to look back on what might have been after showing so much promise through qualifying and the race itself.
“It is a pity on two fronts today because Cal’s early crash I think definitely cost him the chance of another podium. He clearly had the pace to be in the top three and it is a shame that he fell so early. He had a really strong qualifying to be on the front row again and we were all confident he could repeat his podium from Brno.”
“It is a shame for Andrea also to miss a podium by the narrowest margin. It was a tough race for Andrea with the bike not giving him the feeling he expected, so he did a great job to be in the podium battle right to the end. Unfortunately I think he lost too much time trying to pass Bradl and that didn’t give him the time to overtake Bautista. It is very difficult to overtake on a tight track like this but Andrea did his best to give the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team another podium. The photo finish showed a tiny advantage to Alvaro so maybe next time we will come out on top in that situation. I want to congratulate Yamaha and Jorge (Lorenzo) today also because they scored a very important win for the Championship.”
