MotoGP: Laverty loses perfect record after Petrucci collision

Eugene Laverty has lost his perfect points scoring record for the 2017 MotoGP season after a last corner collision between him and Danilo Petrucci saw the Irishman in the gravel and the Italian called before race control.

Laverty was on track for another strong race until first a missing front wheel balancing weight and then a rear tyre spinning on the rim left him struggling for positions.

However, he was still on course to finish inside the points until encountering the Pramac Ducati rider in the final stages of the race.

“I got a terrible start, but I made up some places on the early laps. I was trying to salvage some points at the end, and was fighting for eleventh on the final lap with Petrucci. In my opinion, he was riding more than aggressively – it was too much. At turn three he rode almost on the inside of me instead of overtaking. He hit me at the apex and then I re-passed him on turn four.

“I defended the line on the final corner, and again he did the same thing – coming up the inside – and I crashed. I’m not happy, because it happened more than once from him. It’s cost me eleventh place and we worked too hard this weekend for someone to ruin things for us 200 metres before the line, and all for a single point.”

Petrucci, whose riding was also criticised during the race by Bradley Smith and Cal Crutchlow, was called before race direction after the race and penalised with a three-place penalty for the grid this weekend in Brno.