Crutchlow became the first Brit to win a MotoGP in 35 years; the last United Kingdom rider to complete this task was Barry Sheene, who won the 1981 Swedish Grand Prix.
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And Crutchlow did it the hard way, weaving his way through the field after starting tenth on the grid to win the race, taking the lead with seven laps to go.
The 30-year- old’s victory was a landmark achievement in motorcycling’s top tier championship, coming more than three decades after bike racing legend Sheene’s final GP victory in Sweden in 1981.
The Frenchman won Rally Germany for his first success since Sweden in February.
Marquez leads with 181 points, 43 clear of Lorenzo.
The riders expected a flag-to-flag race where they would be able to come in when they felt was right to change to their other bikes with slick tyres on. It was an important fifth place in Austria because Lorenzo only took 5 points more, and Valentino only 2.
Maverick Viñales (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) rode to ninth with Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) – the third rider on the all-hard tyre option – rounding out the top-ten.
The Honda rider is now leading the riders’ championship with 197 points followed by Rossi with 144 points, while Jorge Lorenzo trails at third with 138 points. Loris Baz was on the same strategy as Crutchlow and finished fourth, ahead of Berbera, Eugene Laverty and Danilo Petrucci. Poleman last time out Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) completes the front row in P3.
Tire choice based on wet conditions once again proved significant during Sunday’s Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno, round 11 of 18 in the 2016 MotoGP Championship.
“At the beginning I was desperate because I thought we d made a mistake”, said the nine-time world champion. On this track we are only struggling in T2, and it is in this sector that I am losing all the advantage that I manage to accumulate in the other parts of the circuit. I used the hard rear tyre and the guys around me had the soft tyre. “Don’t get me wrong – winning the race is incredible but I had the best present a couple of weeks ago”.
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I’m angry with myself for the start, because the bike was good for a podium today, but we’ll save that for next time. I knew that after three or four laps I would be competitive, but it was quite hard to manage the tyres at the start of the race, because I needed to get the heat in them. But I’m satisfied with the way we are working and how this weekend has begun.
