Crutchlow expects “top five” pace in the dry

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) crashed out in Qatar and came to Argentina looking for a little redemption – taking a big step towards it as he capitalized on conditions in Q2 to take an impressive front row start. Lamenting an imperfect lap but satisfied at having done a good job with his team, the 2016 Brno and Phillip Island winner used FP3 improvements as a good springboard for the rest of the day.

With the rain then hitting after that session, the Brit kept calm and carried on to get the most out of his signature wet pace - but thinks he also has top five pace in the dry.

Cal Crutchlow, P3: “It wasn’t easy but we managed as a team to do a good job, I think we managed the situation well, in FP3 too. It looked like it was going to rain so we had a few things to try. It was good to try the new engine in the rain and it was quite good. Qualifying wasn’t perfect – I probably could have done with going through Q1 to get more track time! I made a few small mistakes in the lap and I didn’t have the best feeling with the engine braking. But I think we all hope for a dry race tomorrow – we probably don’t have the pace to be top three in the dry at the moment, but probably the top five.”