Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow followed his hero Valentino Rossi in the second MotoGP free practice session at Montmelo this afternoon and was impressed by how silky smooth the nine-times world champion is.
Crutchlow ended the day seventh fastest and said he learned a lot from watching Rossi but hopes he can continue to learn, get his braking markers right and be fighting for a solid top ten tomorrow.
“I really like the track. It seems to suit my riding style and it turned to be a positive first day for me. I used the same set of slick tyres all day and I ran the hard rear tyre, so I'm sure I could have gone quicker if I'd used the softer option. I did a few laps in the wet but it wasn't really wet conditions and it was a bit of a waste of time," said Crutchlow.
"Learning the braking markers is one of the biggest challenges and in the first corner, I was losing 0.4s on the brakes just at that point. I could m ake up time in other places but you can't afford to lose that much time in just one corner.
"I followed Valentino for a little bit and that was nice because you can learn stuff really quickly. He is smooth as silk and it is incredible to be learning off somebody who is my hero, but if I keep improving there is no reason why I can't have a good qualifying and be fighting for the top ten again in the race."
