Britain’s Cal Crutchlow will take his first MotoGP front-row start of the year at Phillip Island tomorrow and knows that a fast first third of the race is key as his rear tyre will drop off after around ten laps.
The Briton’s plan is to try and get away with Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo, and see for how long he can stay with them but says he has nothing to lose in tomorrow’s clash.
Crutchlow has put his qualifying performance down to learning to push the GP14 harder and he has been rewarded over the last teo meetings with far better results, outqualifying team-mate Andrea Dovizioso comprehensively today even though his Desmosedidi is essentially the same bike as he tested at Sepang in February.
“I haven’t altered much, just learned to push a bit harder. I have learned to ride the bike better. It was obviously capable to being on the front row because Andrea and Iannone have been able to do that quite a few times this year,” said Crutchlow, speaking at Phillip Island.
“I felt comfortable and confident from the start of the weekend. We did a good job, my team deserved it and it was nice to be able to reward them. It is a nice surprise and we can have a good race tomorrow.
“It’s going to be difficult to compete with these guys for the whole race tomorrow. It’s going to be about managing the rear tyre and we know after ten laps the rear is dropping down, and there are 17 left but I believe the Ducati is in better shape so we can be more competitive than usual. The key is to be fast early on and be able to challenge.
“I’ve got nothing to lose so I will try my best in the first laps and see how much we can push. Obviously, I want to stay within the limit and get a good result.”
