Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow says he did everything in his power to pass reigning MotoGP champion Casey Stoner for fourth in today's Catalan MotoGP but the Aussie had an answer for all the Briton could throw at him, so he settled for a fifth place and more points.

The Coventry man was battling with the two-time title winner for a majority of the 25 laps as team-mate Andrea Dovizioso got himself into a podium spot but Stoner had too much experience at the Barcelona track for Crutchlow do put passing move in.

“I'd have liked to have battled for the podium at the end and I think if I could have passed Casey I could have gone with Andrea. I was strong in some parts of the track and Casey in others, so each time I'd close up, he would be able to pull away and manage the gap. I couldn't do anything else to get by him but he's not the World Champion for nothing," said Crutchlow.

"He rode brilliantly and I've got to be happy to be so close to him on a track I've only raced on twice now. I struggled for a bit of rear grip at the end and that cost me a bit of time but I qualified on the front row and finished in the top five, so there are so many positives to take away from this weekend. Now I'm really looking forward to my home race at Silverstone where I hope to be battling for the podium again in front of my own fans.”