Gambling on a hard-hard tyre choice in the wet, Crutchlow came from 15th place in the early laps to surge through the order for a maiden premier class victory, and the first for a British rider since Barry Sheene in 1981.

It came a month after the LCR Honda rider came second at the Sachsenring behind Marc Marquez, after which Crutchlow lamented not coming into the pits for his second bike sooner – believing his reluctance to switch to slicks to have cost him a shot at winning the race.

Asked if he felt he was the best in the world in mixed conditions after his Brno triumph, Crutchlow said: "Yeah. We saw at the Sachsenring, as soon as it started to dry out, I was coming.

"I believe also, in full wet conditions, I'm one of the best. But I normally choose [tyres] differently from the other guys, and I work the race out in a different way.

"At Silverstone last year, it was full wet and I chose soft-soft, and I felt I was coming to the front also [before being taken out by then-teammate Jack Miller]. I believe yes, maybe I'm the best in the wet.

"Had someone else ran the hard front tyre, maybe I'd have had some competition."

Loris Baz and Tito Rabat were the only others to run the hard-hard combination, runner-up Valentino Rossi choosing a hard rear but soft front.

'Miller could have threatened me'

Crutchlow went on to say that, had Assen winner Miller – ruled out of the Brno race due to his crash the previous weekend at Austria – been racing, he would have given him a run for his money.

"I would have had a tough job on my hands today if [Miller] had been riding," admitted Crutchlow.

"Ten minutes before the race, he said he would have chosen hard-hard. I know it would have been a battle with him, he would have gambled as well."

The 30-year-old added that, had the race been dry, he thinks he would have struggled to finish higher than seventh.

"In a dry race I would have probably been seventh," he said. "I have to be realistic, that's where I thought we would finish today. Sixth maybe if someone made a mistake.

"But you have to take the opportunity when it comes. You have to believe in yourself and be confident.

"I was confident in my tyre choice and what we were doing. You have to believe you're the best in the world on that day, or you're not going to win."