MotoGP: Tech 3 boss Poncharal pours praise on Crutchlow

Monster Tech 3 Yamaha boss Hervé Poncharal has poured praise on his former MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow, after the Brit took his first ever success in the premiere class at the weekend’s Czech Grand Prix.

The Frenchman was Crutchlow’s first boss in MotoGP, after he graduated from the Yamaha World Superbike squad to the series back in 2011, taking six podium finishes with the team over his three seasons there.

And with a special relationship still existing between the duo, Poncharal was quick to praise him after a calculated gamble on Sunday handed him his very first victory.

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“I’m more than proud of Cal. Honestly, with Cal there is still a special relationship between him and us – I will always feel like he’s my rider. Seeing him win left a little bit of a bitter taste, because the best result we had with him was a second place or maybe a few pole positions.  I was really proud to have helped him to his best results.

“But he rode a fantastic race, and he more than deserved the win. He good a gamble and the risk with the hard tyres, and he used it well. He pushed, he was aggressive – he rode the perfect race and he fully deserved the win.

“I would have loved to have had that win with him in our team, but more than that I don’t care what team it was in as long as he has the win. He’s been having a hard time, at the start of the year, but Cal is someone so motivated and so dedicated that they never ever give up.”