Crutchlow alongside Rossi on the podium.

BRITISH MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow crossed the line in third place in Sunday’s Argentinian Grand Prix, CWM LCR Honda’s first podium since 2013. 

Just like all MotoGP riders, Crutchlow was faced with the dilemma of which tyre to use at the Termas de rio Hondo circuit this weekend as last year there were significant issues with tyre degradation. 

Bridgestone had therefore created a specific extra hard compound option for this particular circuit in an attempt to combat the issue. 

At the last minute Crutchlow, as well as Marc Marquez, decided to use the softer (hard) option tyre knowing that conserving the tyre would be key and therefore in the first half of the race was forced to drop to fifth.

After Marquez crashed out after clipped the rear end of Valentino Rossi’s YZR-M1, the CWM LCR Honda rider had a shot of a podium, and made a move thoruhg the final corner to pass Ducati’s Andrea Iannone and to seal third place. 

“We are so pleased to get the podium, when I get to come up here it’s usually because you’re going fast!,” explained the Manx resident.

“The CWM LCR Honda Team did a great job, we worked so hard for the third spot. The plan was always to try and let Marc go at the start, hold the other guys up and then try to push at the end.

“I had a bad middle of the race though and the bike locked up a couple of times and I made a few mistakes, but I tried my best to hold onto some grip for the end, and it seemed to pay off!

“We would have been happy with fourth place, because that’s where we started. We got lucky though because Marc crashed, but ultimately we battled for it, so we deserve it.”

Crutchlow also added: “A great job by CWM LCR Honda, they’ve done a great job all weekend. We’ve worked hard and we’ve worked hard for this podium I’d like to thank the people that wrote me off and I’d like to thank the team for third place.” 

The Brit is now currently sixth in the Championship standings, 2-points a drift of reigning World Champion Marc Marquez.