Cal Crutchlow completed his first race with Monster Energy Yamaha in 17th after an ‘enjoyable’ but chaotic BritishGP back in front of the Silverstone fans.

A mammoth task from the off after starting on the back row, the Brit was pleased to be racing in front of his home fans after missing out on his swan-song last year due to the pandemic cancellation. Admitting the only stress and expectation came from himself, wanting to perform at his home race, Crutchlow knew it was an unrealistic ask.

“I wanted to do well today but I didn’t do well because I started at the back of the grid, it was as simple as that,” he admitted before elaborating on his interesting race.

“You can’t give anything away to the mid pack or the front here and when you’re at the back, they’re lunatics! Honestly, I don’t mean it bad, I’ve never been used to being at the back and when you’re riding with them guys, honestly, the two guys, Marini and Bastianini, and Petrucci, they hit each other 15 times in five laps. I’m watching, it was a good show but you can’t get past them because they’re all over the road!

“It was nice to do these races, obviously I haven’t rode in a long time. We had a big break of five months in my testing programme, we got some tests cancelled so they asked me to come and race the two Austria races, here, and also Aragon. I said okay because I hadn’t rode, but it’s been difficult task.

“These guys, they’re so fast, it’s as simple as that. If I look, in general, the lap-times I did today would have won the race in 2016, and I finished 17th today, and that’s the reality.

“Gone are the days of the Yamaha being really smooth, like when I used to ride it in 2011/12 and 13. It’s a completely different bike now. Everybody thinks that it’s still this smooth bike, but you see how much the bike shakes, unstable, stuff like that, it’s going towards the rest of the bikes on the grid.

“Fabio’s just doing an amazing job, it’s as simple as that. You’ve got to give him credit, he rides the bike in a great way. The bike does like to be alone. If you’re in a battle I think you struggle a lot more, where if you’re in front or you have a gap of somebody in front of you, or behind you, the bike rides a lot, lot better. Fabio has a different setting to me. As a test rider I like a longer bike, probably coming from the Honda that I’d rode for six years, it’s completely, completely different. My experience I think has brought a little bit to the guys from the two tests that I did at the start of the year and we’ve got to continue that for the rest of the year.

“I think we did a good job this weekend, enjoyable. I got a lot of information for Yamaha, and my pace was very, very respectable. I have to ride Aragon and then I’m going back to testing.

“I enjoy it,” he explained of his ‘new look life’ away from the paddock. “I always had a great separation from my home life and racing. When I went racing, I switch racing mode on, and when I got home, I was at home. I think that helped, because I was already the same as usual.

“Obviously you’re always preparing for the next race etc. when I was racing full time, but now I feel that I’m at home like normal. I continue to train on my bicycle and I enjoy doing stuff like that. But I thought I would be riding more, obviously with the testing role but we had these tests cancelled, so I still get my fix. I still get my fix of still riding the bike, I still do some stuff for Yamaha, we’re still constantly in touch. I enjoy to watch the races at home though! I know what it’s like, the stress of being on the grid every week, I’ve done it for 20 years and I was done with it.”

Discussing the future of the M1 musical chairs, Crutchlow is clear he has one more race before giving the Yamaha over to the returning Franky Morbidelli - currently recovering from knee surgery - while Andrea Dovizioso is welcomed into the Petronas fold.

“Morbidelli is gonna be back in Misano,” he confirmed. “It looks like he’ll be moving to the factory team and then Dovi is going to come in and ride with the bike for this year and next year.

“Obviously Dovi was testing with me earlier in the year when he was riding the Aprilia, testing, and he looks like he’s getting old as well,” the 35-year-old joked. “I look at myself and I’m going a little bit grey. James [Toseland] looks exactly same as when I was his teammate in 2010! No, hopefully Dovi’ll have an enjoyable time on it and we know he’s a great rider” he concluded.