Bryan Staring gained important experience in a close CRT battle in Assen.

Bryan Staring was left to lament a lack of late-race consistency at the Dutch TT as he rode to a 21st-place finish amongst a frenzied battle pack of CRT machines.

The GO&FUN Gresini Honda rider headed up the seventh row of the grid to start the race, and by the end of lap one had moved forward from a qualifying position of 19 to be running competitively in 16th.

As the field settled into a race rhythm, the Australian rider found himself engaging in a back-and-forth fight for place with a group of five riders.

Barely a second separated the group which included Staring, Claudio Corti, Yonny Hernandez, Hector Barbera and Michael Laverty, with the riders’ average speed near identical over the 26-lap duration.

Staring was disappointed to slip to the tail-end of the group but still felt the experience served him well.

“I was convinced that I could do much better,” he said. “For a while I battled as part of the group but then I was not consistent enough until the end.

“For this reason I am a little disappointed with my performance. It’s further experience but I would have preferred to end it with a different result.

“However, I’ve learnt some important things that I hope to put into practice in future races.”

Team owner Fausto Gresini said the team would continue to strive for better results in the coming grands prix.

“Staring gained further experience, even though we were expecting better,” he said. “We know that we will not be lacking in focus to get better results soon.”

Staring sits 23rd on the world championship ladder with a pair of points to his name in his maiden MotoGP season.