The MotoGP World Championship experienced one of its most eventful days today at the traditional Assen TT as heavy rain forced race management to bring out the red flag in the middle of the 26-lap Grand Prix. . After long minutes, a new race shortened to 12 laps would determine the winner of the day.
After starting from the second row of the grid, Cal Crutchlow made excellent progress despite the downpours of water which fell on the Batavian track and was back in contact with the leaders following a series of particularly fast laps before that the test is interrupted.
With a motorcycle fitted with a soft rain tire at the rear, the 30-year-old Briton started the second race from seventh place on the grid with the hope of achieving a conclusive result. However, the excess grip exerted by the rear axle forced the Coventry native to put enormous strain on the front of his machine. After a few turns, he made a mistake but fortunately got up unscathed.
The Dutch Grand Prix was finally won in style by Jack Miller, the former driver of the LCR Honda team.
Cal Crutchlow #35 – fall
“As you can easily imagine, the disappointment is great. In a race like today, anything can happen and things don't depend on anything. I felt really comfortable in the first part of the test. I had trouble getting optimal performance from the tires at the start and I had some difficulty getting them up to temperature correctly. When the asphalt then began to dry, I should be the fastest driver on the track. I then felt like I could win the Grand Prix. Downpours started falling at that time and it became a disaster.”
“For the second start, I opted for the softer option regarding the tires and unfortunately I made a mistake because I simply had too much grip with the rear rubber. I had no experience with this type of tire, other than the few laps I did yesterday during the qualifying session in different conditions. The front tire must not have been warm enough and I am sincerely disappointed.”
“I'm happy for the drivers who managed to get on the podium, and especially for Jack, even if I feel that I too had the opportunity to compete for one of these places and why not win the Grand Price. Jack took his chance and I'm really happy for him. If there was one person on the grid besides me that I would have liked to see win the event, it was him.”
Ranking in the 2016 MotoGP world championship: 18rd / 20 points
