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BRNO, Czech Republic (AP) — Cal Crutchlow won the Czech Grand Prix on Sunday for his maiden MotoGP triumph to become the first British rider to claim a race in the premium category in 35 years.
The rider with the independent LCR Honda team dealt best with the wet track that was slowly drying out after rain earlier in the day to cover 22 laps of the 5.403-kilometer (3.357-mile) Brno circuit in 47 minutes and 44.290 seconds.
"I'm really, really pleased for my team," Crutchlow said. "We worked hard for this."
After starting from 10th position on the grid, Crutchlow gradually moved ahead to take the lead with seven laps to go. Unlike most riders who started on soft tyres, Crutchlow opted for hard ones and that strategy paid off.
"I took the gamble," he said. "We did the best job we could today."
In 2012, Crutchlow took third in Brno for his first MotoGP podium.
Six-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha finished 7.298 seconds behind while championship leader Marc Marquez was third on his Honda, 9.587 back.
After 11 of 18 races, Marquez leads overall with 197 points. Rossi moved to second with 144, six ahead of his Yamaha teammate, defending MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo.
The next race is the British Grand Prix on Sept 4.
Earlier in wet condition, John Mcphee won his maiden career Moto3 race while Jonas Folger took his first race of the season in the Moto2.
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