Cal Crutchlow had to contend with a dead leg on the first lap of Sunday’s MotoGP enocunter at Le Mans race a tangle with fellow Ducati rider Yonny Hernandez but the British rider said it was important to finish a race and that results higher than his position shouldn’t be expected.

Crutchlow finished in 11th place and finished three seconds behind team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who had led on the first lap before being monstered by Valentino Rossi, and the Brit was pragmatic about his result.

“Today it was important first and foremost to finish a race, and for me that’s good seeing as how my 2014 season has been so far. I got a great start and felt really good on the bike, but there was a crash on the first lap and I got hit really hard by Hernandez by accident, which gave me a dead leg, and I lost a few places. I also made a few mistakes in the race but it’s clear that for the moment it’s difficult for Ducati to aim for anything higher in the results,” he said.