On the back of some great winter testing, Cal Crutchlow went into the opening race of the 2018 MotGP series with high hopes at the weekend.

The Ramsey resident said that with the right tyre choice he could be in the mix for a race win at the Losail Circuit in Qatar.

Finding his feet in free practice, he managed to go straight through to qualifying two, and then put the LCR Honda fourth on the grid for the race.

Crutchlow got a great start but was forced wide by pole-setter Johann Zarco (Tech 3 Yamaha) and almost ran out of road on the run up to the first corner, knocking him back to sixth place.

He managed to pick off Danilo Petrtucci (Pramac Racing Dutcati), who was highly-rated for a surprise win after some good runs in free practice and qualifying. He then dispatched Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa and soon caught Zarco who was falling back into the pack after his tyres started to drop off. He had selected a Michelin soft front and rear.

Crutchlow, who had a medium front, was able to then start closing the gap on fans’ favourite Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), but with only three laps remaining he was unable to close the gap and crossed the finish line in fourth place.

The race was won by factory Ducati team rider Andrea Dovizioso with current world champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) second. Rossi took the final spot on the podium.

Crutchlow did make the winner’s enclosure as top independent rider. He will now travel to Argentina for round two of the championship in fourth place on 13 points.

In Moto2, Sam Lowes from Onchan didn’t get the start he wanted to his championship when he crashed out while in ninth place.

He may have had the same gearbox problem as his team-mate Lecuona, who also failed to complete the race. Lowes will be hoping for better luck in Argentina.