Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow believes he is with a good chance of a podium shot at tomorrow's Catalunya MotoGP but says he faces at dilemma about which tyre to choose.
The Isle of Man resident parked his satellite YZR-M1 in second place and was top Yamaha in this afternoon's final 15 minute qualifying session and says his plan is to try and go with Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, who will be beside him when the lights go out.
"It's about time we got a front row. Since Qatar, we have had some podiums and a front row makes your life a hell of a lot easier if you can get away with the front guys. My plan is to go with them at least for a while but I can tell you now Valentino and Marc will definitely be there and maybe for a few laps some others will be there," said Crutchlow, speaking at Catalunya.
"I think it will be a good battle for the podium, I don't know about the race win. Race pace, Jorge and Dani are not that far ahead of us but my dilemma is the tyre as I did the same lap time on the hard and the soft. Out of the box, you can go faster on the soft but for two laps, and then it sits the same for 20 laps.
"Yesterday, I did a 42.4s after 21 laps on the hard tyre and I believe the drop is the same with the soft. If everyone else runs the soft and you run the hard, I don't think it will make you win the race because I don't think laptimes will drop that much with the soft. I think we can do a fast lap with the hard as well, I can usually pull a fast lap out if I need to. It's quite difficult to pass here and the best place is on start/finish."