Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow hasn't yet suffered from any arm-pump at the hard-braking Motegi MotoGP circuit in either of the free practice sessions following an operation to fix the problem a couple of weeks ago.
Crutchlow went under the knife to sort out the issue (known medically as compartment syndrome) and he has so far been able to cope with the strains of the stop-start Japanese track, placing 13th in the second session. He is once again down on top-speed with only wildcard Damian Cudlin going slower through the speed trap.
I'm happy enough with my pace today because this is a really weird and difficult track with a lot of really hard braking points that makes it very physical. I've had a few arm pump issues this year but thankfully the surgery I had a few weeks ago has done the trick because today I had no problems at all. And if there was going to be an issue with my arms it was going to be at this track because of all the hard braking." said the ex-World Supersport Champion.
"Unfortunately we're lacking a bit of engine performance but there is nothing I can do about that. It is a bit of a disadvantage but I managed to find a second this afternoon, so that shows with more experience of the track I am able to make big progress.
"Track experience is vital because I beat Aoyama in Aragon a couple of weeks ago but today he is seventh fastest. I'm only three tenths from being inside the top 10, so if I can find that time tomorrow and get on the third row of the grid, I'll be well happy with that.”
