Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow made a 'couple of small mistakes' in the wet second MotoGP free practice session at Valencia and reckons that had it nor been for them, he could have challenged for a top-three spot on the timesheets.
As it was, the former World Supersport Champion had to make do with fifth place but was only a second off the pace of fastest man Alvaro Bautista who is continuing to make a serios case for Suzuki remaining in racing's premier class next season.
“Today was a positive start to the weekend and I think I could have gone a fair bit quicker at the end of this afternoon's session and been challenging for the top three but I made a couple of small mistakes on my last lap. But I was still fifth fastest though and I felt pretty comfortable in the full wet conditions," said Crutchlow.
"I am happy enough even though the track hasn't got much grip at all. It was very slippery and you've got to be careful because it is easy to make a mistake. But the bike definitely felt better in the full wet rather than when it was a bit sketchy this morning.
"I just hope we get a dry session tomorrow to get some time on the bike in the dry. Nobody wants to be starting the race with no dry track time, so we'll have to see what happens with the weather. If it is wet tomorrow I'm sure we can make some improvements and go a bit faster.”
