Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow has said that MotoGP needs more battles like the one that took place between himself and Alvaro Bautista at Motegi which, unfortunately, ended with him running out of fuel.

The Briton was on for his second podium when he had to retire and said it was a shame the team hadn't calculated he would be lapping that fast and he couldn't make it to the chequered flag.

"Motegi was a disappointment. We made a great race and a massive improvement over the whole weekend. We looked at the situation every night and where we needed to improve and it was just a shame we didn't calculate we would be going that fast," said Crutchlow.

"It's good that me and Alvaro were battling there. It's what the championship needs. It's what the spectators want, it's what the riders want too, we always want a close battle as well. It was a good fight.

"Alvaro passed me, I passed him back, it was lining up for a good last lap but shame I didn't make it. Our championship position doesn't reflect our pace, we've had a bit of bad luck, maybe, especially in the last race but seventh is definitely where we shouldn't be."