Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow says a stupid mistake going through turn six at Le Mans today basically caused him to fall off the side of his satellite YZR-M1 on lap five of today's MotoGP race in France while fighting for a top eight finish.
The Coventry man, who qualified in sixth, was in a scrap with the factory Yamaha of Ben Spies and ex-world champion Nicky Hayden when the crash occurred and a throttle problem meant he couldn't continue when he re-mounted.
“I'm pretty disappointed because looking at how the race panned out I could have been in sixth place because when I crashed I was having a good battle with Ben. I'd caught him quite easily and was looking forward to a good race when I made a stupid little mistake in Turn 6," said Crutchlow.
"I touched the kerb and I lost the front. I literally fell off the side of the bike and that was it. It is disappointing because I had the pace to get another top eight, but these things can happen when you're pushing so hard in a competitive class like MotoGP.
"I managed to get back on the bike but there was a problem with the throttle, so it was impossible for me to carry on. I showed my raw speed all weekend so I'm not going to be too hard on myself, though I was desperate to get a good result for Tech 3 and Monster.”
