Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow was caught out by a wet patch and had a synchronised crash at the same time on the same corner as Hiro Aoyama but the pair didn't touch.

Crutchlow was in a battle with the San Carlo Honda rider and after a short but heavy rain shower, the pain went down at the top of Lukey Heights but the Coventry man didn't know the cause unitl he was told by someone in the crowd.

“I'm pretty disappointed because it has been a very difficult weekend, so to get a top 10 would have been a very positive way to sign off. I'd been having a really good battle with Abraham, Aoyama and de Puniet and I was confident I was going to finish at least eighth. But I came into Lukey Heights and couldn't even see any rain and the next thing I was down," said Crutchlow.

"The weird thing is Aoyama went down right in front of me on the same wet patch, so it was like synchronised crashing. I had no idea why I'd crashed and someone in the crowd told me it had rained really quickly and then stopped. It is a pity because that cost me a decent result but I'll be looking to get back in the fight for the top 10 in Sepang next week.

"I tested twice at that track in the winter and while it was tough, I've gained so much experience since then that there's no reason why I can't have a strong weekend.”