Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow is struggling to make his his satellite YZR-M1 turn-in during both the MotoGP free practice sessions at Le Mans today and says that is where he is losing time.
The former WSBK front-runner finished seventh behind team-mate Andrea Dovizioso but is just less than a second slower than Cassey Stoner at a circuit he has only been to once before - and at which he crashed during last year's race.
“We have a couple of small problems but nothing that I don't think we can fix ahead of the race. I can't get the bike to turn into the corner as I'd like and I'm losing a little bit of time in that area. We will have a sit down tonight and see if we can come up with a set-up that will improve the turning. To be honest, Le Mans is not the best circuit for me and it is quite difficult," said Crutchlow.
"I've only been here once before and I crashed in the race last year, so a big part of my job today was just trying to gain some more experience with the layout. It was still a positive day and I am really close to Andrea and Ben, so with an improvement to the turning of the bike, I'm sure I can be even more competitive. The weather might not be as good tomorrow but I am ready for anything and determined to do the best job I can for Tech 3 and Monster this weekend.”
