Cal Crutchlow wins first MotoGP race in Czech Republic
By Paul Vinnell
Last Updated: 21/08/16 4:08pm
Britain's Cal Crutchlow has become the first winner of an elite-class Grand Prix since Barry Sheene in 1981 with victory in the Czech Republic.
And Crutchlow did it the hard way, weaving his way through the field after starting tenth on the grid to win the race, taking the lead with seven laps to go .
Crutchlow, on his LCR Honda, dealt best with the wet track that was slowly drying out after rain earlier in the day to cover 22 laps of the 5.403km Brno circuit in 47 minutes and 44.290 seconds.
Unlike most riders who started on soft tyres, Crutchlow opted for hard ones and that strategy paid off.
Six-time champion Valentino Rossi, on a Yamaha, finished 7.298 seconds behind while championship leader Marc Marquez was third on his Honda, 9.587 back.
""It's the best day of my racing career. I'm really, really pleased for my team," Crutchlow said. "We worked hard for this. I took the gamble [with the tyres]. Not many other people did and as far as I'm concerned they're all wimps. We did the best job we could today."
"I smashed the bike yesterday and honestly they [his mechanics] didn't leave the circuit till midnight last night. That was the best way to repay them today."
But, kissing his phone after calling his wife who had given birth to their first child on August 2, he confessed a MotoGP win was not everything.
"I expected probably a different feeling but with Lucy giving birth the other week that was the best feeling in the world," said Crutchlow.
Marquez leads overall with 197 points, with Rossi in second with 144.
