It was a bitter end to the Malaysian Grand Prix for Cal Crutchlow and the LCR Honda Team as the Brit slid out of the MotoGP race while sitting in fifth place and looking good for a shot at another podium finish.

Heavy downpours before the start of the race delayed the go-ahead, and the race distance was reduced to 19 laps. When the riders finally got away the track was still sodden and proved to be treacherous for Crutchlow, who had made good progress in the early laps.

After having been in fourth and closing on the leaders, he was passed by Honda colleague Marc Marquez, but kept in close touch with the world champion. However, not long after the Brit went to ground at turn two, ending his hopes of podium glory.

#35 Cal Crutchlow – DNF

“I’m a little bit sore after what was a big crash. It wasn’t fast, in fact it was quite slow but I highsided off throttle. Marc almost had the same the lap before but he managed to stay on – he had the luck of landing back on the bike. I thought ‘don’t do what Marc did’, but I nearly ended up on the moon! I landed completely on my face and was a bit disorientated, but then was OK. I have some pain in my big toe and my foot, and in my hand which is broken from the qualifying crash. It was impossible to ride the bike again.”

“It was a shame because it was a definite podium opportunity, but I was struggling with the acceleration. We need how to improve the traction control works because we just weren’t competitive enough in this area, and myself and Marc had to brake ‘hot’ all the time to make up for this.”

“I tried my best and it didn’t work this time, but I’m most disappointed for my team because to spend the week here and get any points is a real shame. We go away happy enough because of recent results but we had to try today, and we did.”

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The Malaysian weekend of the LCR Honda Team was marked by several promotional events like Castrol dealers dinner on Saturday night with more than 150 guests coming from Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Cal Crutchlow met his enthusiastic fans on the eve of the penultimate round of the season entertaining them with a dedicated  speech and a signing session.

On the same day the LCR Team Principal Lucio Cecchinello had the honour to reward the first Muslim woman to do solo rides around the world. Her name is Anita Yusof and has travelled to more than 89 countries with the precious support of GIVI (best known brands in motorcycle accessories and historical partner of LCR squad). The signing ceremony of GIVI Ambassador was officiated by Miss Hendrika Visenzi, (Vice President Sales & Marketing Director) Mr Joseph A Perucca (Overseas Operational Director of GIVI) and Mr On Hai Swee (Managing Director of Givi Asia Sdn Bhd).

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