Cal Crutchlow made history today as the first British winner of a premier class Grand Prix race since Barry Sheene in 1981 and revealed he took a huge gamble on tyre choice as he got to the grid and then immediately went to the toilet.

The LCR Honda man was one of only two riders to opt for hard-compound wet tyres all round and it paid off as he was able to scythe his way through the pack after having to start slowly and took victory by 7.3s over Valentino Rossi, who had opted for a hard/soft combination.

“I made the decision on the grid. I went to the grid with soft/soft and said, ‘OK, I really do believe the hard rear tyre will last the race’. We saw this morning it was quite wet and it was borderline whether it would be the best decision,” said Crutchlow, speaking at the track.

“I then said, ‘If I go with the hard rear, I also have to go with the hard front’. I took the decision as soon as I arrived on the grid, and then went to the toilet

“I believed with the track conditions the hard front would be OK. I was more concerned for the rear and the rear was the worst part because it was really difficult on the first five laps at the first left-hand corner.

“It was quite dangerous and I nearly crashed a couple of times. I could see that Vale was struggling as well in exactly the same area. I looked up at the screen and I saw Valentino coming, or who I thought was Valentino – but I think it was Hector Barbera.

“I thought, ‘OK, I have to go now’. I didn’t know if Vale had the hard front tyre, so I started to push a little and then I saw the gap going up. It was 1.5 and then a few laps later it was four seconds. With four laps to go, I nearly had a crash at turn ten because I changed to sixth gear when normally we would keep fifth gear and then I didn’t stop.

“Then I said, ‘OK just keep calm’ and after that I was just cruising around. I made the perfect choice and once I understood that Valentino was not coming or that nobody was coming for me, I just rode around and finished.”