Cal Crutchlow pitted in a good window at the Czech GP, although later than eventual winner Marc Marquez, and was neck and neck with Marquez' teammate Dani Pedrosa as they headed back out on slicks.

But the Brit got caught battling Danilo Petrucci. Fighting hard to try and keep a shot at the podium, Crutchlow found Pedrosa able to pull away, before Maverick Vinales was also able to do the same.

He did escape Petrucci but on the final lap it came down to Coventry vs Tavullia, and Valentino Rossi pipped Crutchlow to the line - but the LCR rider took a solid P5, and came home top Independent Team rider.

"It would have been nice to battle with Pedrosa for the podium. " Said Crutchlow "I came in when he came in and he did a better job of passing (Danilo) Petrucci on the restart than me."

"It was so difficult to pass the Ducati and once he (Pedrosa) got in front he was able to go and it took me ten more laps than him. Once I got past Petrucci I was also able to go harder, but Maverick had already passed me."

"I’m pleased with the weekend overall, to finish in the top five in Brno is good. But I did want the podium, I aimed for the podium and I didn’t get it so obviously I’m not best pleased." He added

"My team did a great job all weekend, so we have to thank Honda and the LCR team and now we go to Austria next week looking to do a good job."

source: motogp.com