Crutchlow: "I didn't care if I crashed" in closing stages

The Briton matched his best ever finish in MotoGP with the runner-up spot behind a victorious Marc Marquez in a wet race that hinged largely upon tyre strategy, showing blistering pace on a drying track to make up 11 places from his grid slot of 13th.

Crutchlow was among a bunch of four riders to make their stops to change from wet to slick tyres relatively late, emerging in fourth place before picking off the Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Scott Redding to climb to second.

Speaking after the race, Crutchlow revealed that team boss Lucio Cecchinello had asked him to prioritise finishing – but that he threw caution to the wind in the final laps to be sure of catching the intermediate-shod Redding for second.

"I don’t know how I stayed on the bike for the first eight laps with the hard option front tyre," said the LCR rider. "I used it in morning warm-up but it took about eight laps to get any heat into it.

"I nearly crashed on the warm-up lap actually. It was difficult to manage, but I knew I’d come through it. We should have qualified higher, but we showed what we’re capable of.

"I took some risks, but why not? I had nothing to lose. In the last five laps, I had to push, I didn’t care [if I crashed]."

However, Crutchlow expressed his frustration that he didn't come into the pits sooner, once he learned about fellow Honda rider Marquez's decision to come for slicks much earlier.

"Honestly speaking, I should have come in earlier," he said. "I didn’t know. I didn’t think anyone would come in, I didn’t think anyone was out there on slicks.

"I followed [Valentino] Rossi and Dovi, who are both very experienced in those conditions. I actually wasn’t gonna come in, I swung in at the last moment. It’s always a gamble."