Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow crashed out of today's final MotoGP race at Valencia after hitting a five-inch long patch of wet tarmac that caused him to lose the front and an almost-guaranteed second place.
The Isle of Man resident had changed for slicks after the warm-up lap and the gamble paid off as he was able to follow eventual winner Dani Pedrosa through the field but he tumbled with eight laps remaining.
The crash may have damaged part of Crutchlow's hand which he has injured before but he hasn't as yet been for proper medical checks.
"It was no different to any other lap. I braked in a straight line, I was at 20 degree angle, which is nothing, and I was nowhere near the water but there must have been a patch as it suddenly locked and then gripped," said Crutchlow, speaking after the race.
"Problem was, it shows on the data the patch must have been five inches long because the wheel skidded for five inches but when it came back to the tarmac, it was still sliding so my hand on the brake forced it to grab and I crashed.
"I had a nine second lead, I was going steady, not pushing, it wasn't as if I could catch the winner. It was just a mistake. My hand is sore. I don't know if it is broken. I have had an external fixator on this before and the bone that is really painful at the moment is that one."
Crutchlow was one of four riders, among them Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden, to come in after the warm-up lap to change to slick tyres – the same as Jorge Lorenzo had gone to the grid with.
"I was clever as I was at the back to see who would go in. Dani went in so I thought, 'If he is going in, I am going in' but there were too many people in pitlane, mostly outside our garage, and I couldn't get to my slick bike."
"There was no problem at pit exit so I set off and let the other guys set the pace because it was a little bit dodgy coming through the CRTs. What I wanted to do was follow Dani, we had already passed Nicky but Bautista made himself so wide and there was such a thin dry line to pass was a disaster.
"Every time Dani did a fast lap, I got held up and when I crashed there was 24 seconds between us but on four laps he took seven seconds alone through traffic. He just managed to get the better of it.
"We have assured ourselves there is podium potential. In the last five or six races we have been within the top three or four fastest guys and one of them is retiring. We have got Marquez coming in but I am pleased.
"Seventh in the championship doesn't reflect where we should have finished, which was fifth, but there were a few mistakes from myself, what happened in Motegi and I didn't finish fifth. We have been faster than Dovi all year, at every track, we just haven't finished ahead of him - he was just more consistent."
