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.”
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.”