Ramsey’s resident MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow finished fourth in Sunday’s Austrian round at the Red Bull Ring

Having qualified fifth on a track Crutchlow admits is not his favourite, his race start blasted him up the hill to turn one where he gained a position from Danilo Petrucci.

At the end of the first lap, Crutchlow slotted into fourth behind Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso.

Alex Rins on the Suzuki slipped by Crutchlow in the mid-stages of the race, but Cal recovered the place again within a few corners.

Crutchlow had gambled on a hard front and medium rear Michelin tyre for the LCR Honda and although he struggled to keep pace with Lorenzo and Marquez he kept with Dovizioso, catching him on the corners but losing ground on the straights.

Petrucci was never more than a few 100ths of a second away from the LCR Honda of Crutchlow, but by lap 12 Cal had started to gap the Alma Pramac Ducati man.

After an exciting and tense battle, the race was won by Lorenzo (Ducati Factory Team) from Marquez (Repsol Honda) with Andrea Dovizioso third.

Crutchlow crossed the line with a huge wheelie to take fourth place and again come home first of the independent teams to finish.

Although Crutchlow is still eighth in the World Championship standings and third in the independent championship, he is now only one point behind Johann Zarco (Tech 3 Yamaha) in both.

He also now only trails new Independent Championship leader Petrucci by two points.

The series moves on to Misano in Italy for a MotoGP test before heading to Silverstone for Crutchlow’s home Grand Prix on Sunday, August 26.

Peter Callister