Crutchlow secures first Supersport win
Added on Monday, April 6th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Crutchlow secures first Supersport win
Britain’s Cal Crutchlow secured his first victory of the season in yet another thrilling World Supersport race in Valencia on Sunday.
The former HM Plant Honda man went toe-to-toe with former MotoGP rider Anthony West right up to the final lap before pulling off a superb last-lap manoeuvre to take first place from the Aussie and jump to joint-top of the Supersport championship.
Following on from his podium in Qatar, the Yamaha rider looked destined for a second place finish as Stiggy Honda rider West took the lead on lap 12 and appeared to pull away from the Brit on lap four.
But Crutchlow held on and in a last gasp challenge for the lead, took the lead on the first corner of the final lap and held on finish just 0.171 seconds ahead of West.
“I knew where we were strongest into turn one and out on the back straights, however West was really strong in the places where we were a bit weaker,” said Crutchlow. “We’ve been chasing a perfect set-up all weekend and luckily we found it for the race.
“It was dodgy conditions for the start but we got through it and got on the pace. The team have put in such a lot of effort since the last race. To come here and win is really good for me and really good for Yamaha.”
That win puts Crutchlow on 54 points in the championship; level with Turkey’s Kenan Sofuoğlu and makes him the only non-Honda rider in the top eight.
West, Andrew Pitt and Ireland’s Eugene Laverty are all close behind on 43 points.
