Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow rode to a hard fought seventh place finish in today’s US MotoGP round at a sun-kissed Laguna Seca.

The British rider displayed the fighting spirit he has become famous for throughout an energy-sapping 32-lap race, but he was unable to make any impression on the top six despite pushing to his absolute maximum from start to finish.

The 27-year-old, who was seeking to become the first British rider since the legendary Barry Sheene to score three successive podium finishes in the premier class, exerted tremendous early pressure on Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa to break into the top six.

The Spanish duo showed just why they are consistent World Championship contenders, with both refusing to buckle under Crutchlow’s intense pressure and rather than take unnecessary risks, Crutchlow opted to settle for a seventh position that keeps him close to the battle for the top three in the overall rankings.

Today’s race, which marked the halfway stage of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship, ended in disappointing fashion for rookie Bradley Smith.

The 22-year-old had quickly settled into a fast rhythm in front of a crowd of over 46,000 fans and a top eight finish on his Laguna Seca debut looked comfortably within his grasp.

Smith was sizing up where he could overtake Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso later in the race when he was denied a seventh successive top 10 finish by a small technical issue with his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1 machine at the end of lap eight.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team now embarks on a well deserved summer break before the exciting 2013 World Championship campaign resumes with a third visit to America at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Cal Crutchlow 5th – 116 points :

“That was a difficult end to a very difficult weekend and in all honesty I never got comfortable with the bike at any stage here. It is my worst result of the season so far and I can’t be happy because I gave up some valuable points in the Championship. Maybe last year in the same situation I would have pushed and not finished, so that is one positive we can take from what was a tough weekend and it certainly isn’t how I wanted to go into the summer break. Right from the start of the race I was on the limit and couldn’t go any faster. I got beat fair and square and the three on the podium definitely deserved it. I tried my best and didn’t give up but sometimes you have to accept you can’t do any better. It has been a pretty hectic month so now I am looking forward to getting some rest and I will be back even more motivated in Indianapolis.”

Bradley Smith DNF – 51 points :

“It is a shame that my race was ended by a technical problem today because my bike has been faultless all year. This can happen at any stage but unfortunately it happened in the race and now we will carry out a thorough investigation to find out what happened. Sometimes these things can happen and it was a shame because I was looking at finishing inside the top eight and that would have been a positive result. The race was going well and I was confident after being very strong in the warm-up because we made a good step with the bike. But then I had the problem and I have to accept that this is part of racing. The first half of the season has been very enjoyable and I have learned so much. I am feeling I am making big progress and now the summer break gives me the opportunity to rest my recovering left wrist and I can focus on coming back much stronger physically in Indianapolis.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager

“Unfortunately we can’t have Cal and Bradley inside the top six like in Germany every week and we knew coming here it wasn’t going to be easy. Laguna Seca has never been a happy hunting ground for us but of course we expected to show more of our true potential. Cal might have lost come confidence when he crashed in FP4 but he has found it difficult all weekend. He never gave up and kept on pushing and he still got some important points for the Championship. And we can’t be too disappointed because Cal has been outstanding in the first half of the season and produced some of the best races we have seen in our MotoGP history. It is a big pity for Bradley as well because he had a very strong weekend, especially being here for the first time on a track that is not the easiest to get a grip of. Unfortunately he could not finish the race because a technical problem but the job he has done so far gives us a lot of confidence that he will be stronger in the second half of the season. He has been learning fast and becoming more of a MotoGP rider and we have high hopes for him in the last nine races."

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