Britain’s Cal Crutchlow says he has no excuses for today’s performance during qualifying at the Catalunya MotoGP round where he ended up on the fifth row only 12 months after taking a front-row slot on the Monster Yamaha.
The works Ducati man says he cannot make the bike do what he wants to do in the heat of Spain and has no confidence on the brakes or on corner exit. He was quick to praise Pramac Ducati’s Yonny Hernandez who parked his year-old Desmosedici in ninth place - and was a full second quicker than Crutchlow.
“Tough day but nothing different to what I expected after yesterday. We had no confidence with the bike or no real speed. We were too far away from our team-mate and the other Ducati riders, we need to improve tomorrow and sit and assess the situation this evening,” said Crutchlow, speaking at the track.
“With the bike in this condition and the heat, it’s not suiting my riding style. I have tried to change and nearly had some crashes so chose not to push so much. In qualifying one I tried my best to make it but we were too far away. Yonny did an incredible job with what is last year’s bike, he made a fantastic job.
“We need to improve. I have no excuses, I don’t have the feel or confidence to be able to push, every time I open the throttle I nearly crash and every time I push under braking, I nearly lose the front, and it’s clear to see on the data.
Crutchlow says there will no overnight magic bullet in terms of setup and will not try anything radical in morning warm-up as they have reached the limit with the bike.
“We are at the limit of the setting with this bike. If I go towards Dovi, I can’t stop very well and if we go the other way the bike doesn’t turn at all. We can’t change with just some settings and expect to go faster.
“The team are trying their best the same as I am, they are doing the best job they can with their hands tied. The bike doesn’t do anything I want it to do, as such, maybe it does what Andrea wants it to do.”
