Crutchlow: Two races and two long laps, that must be a first!

After exceeding track limits while battling to control the large aerodynamic package in the Sprint race, the Englishman received the second penalty for turning in too early to his pit box during the dry-to-wet bike swap.

“It started to rain on the grid. We did the first laps on slick tyres. I missed the opportunity to pit early like the other riders. I thought we could take a gamble and that it might stop raining – obviously it didn‘t, it started raining much harder,” Crutchlow said.

“Unfortunately, we made the pit stop in the wrong way, and I had to do a long-lap penalty again.

“I’ve done two races and two long laps, so that must be a first!” he grinned.

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“I got the [Sunday] long lap because when I came into the pit there was somebody standing in front of my signboard on the floor that you have to turn in after. So I couldn't see it, went the wrong side of it and then they gave me a long lap for it.

“I [didn’t know] why I had the long lap. I thought they've made a mistake or I've knocked somebody off and I don't know I've knocked somebody off. So yeah, it was a manic race, but we took some positives out of it with regards to the bike.”

Crutchlow confirmed he had continued on the larger aero for the grand prix race, at Yamaha’s request.

“That was Yamaha's plan. I was happy to do it because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter where I finish, as long as we got some data,” he said.

“I was pleased enough with my pace in the rain. We needed a dry race though, to be able to understand the direction with the setting that we tried today.”

Crutchlow has pinpointed a smoother engine as the top priority for 2024, followed by electronics and aerodynamic progress.

“I feel that we know the direction to go in now. A lot of the engineers believe that that's the direction to go in [as well] and we will hopefully make strides for next year,” he said.

The Englishman won’t do any more wild-cards this season as he returns to testing duties.

“We will continue our testing programme in November in Jerez and Valencia,” said the triple MotoGP race winner.