LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow had a tough Catalan GP, failing to make Q2 and then qualifying in seventeenth. The British two-time GP winner fought back through the pack into P11 – just behind Championship leader Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) – as some big names did some damage control, but had expected a lot more:
Cal Crutchlow: "I survived and I managed to finish which is probably the main thing! It wasn’t the greatest day I’ve ever had on a motorcycle, but I was pleased enough having started in 17th. We had our issues in the race and we’ve had them all weekend but, as mad as it sounds, I was actually quite confident of going towards the podium today. I chose a hard tyre thinking that everybody else’s would drop, but ours wasn’t even good on the warm-up lap, so that made things so tough in the race.
“I think we managed well this weekend. We had the odds stacked against us after qualifying in 17th and making the mistakes we did. But Honda did a great job to get Marc and Dani on the podium, but it’s difficult when the Ducati bike is making up four tenths on Pedrosa in a straight line. We just have to continue to work hard, but it was a great job by Dovi and I’m really pleased for him.”
Then it was back on track for Crutchlow and much of the paddock in the one day Official Test at the same track on Monday, with the Brit P6 after putting in 60 laps - including testing a Repsol Honda fairing. Despite a small crash, the rider from Coventry was happy enough with the day's work:
Cal Crutchlow: "The test went ok and was a lot better than the race, that much is for sure. There’s nothing we can really take from Sunday, except for a few points. We think we know the problem behind our disappointing race. We confirmed and clarified that in our first exit from the pits.
“We tested a few different things, unfortunately I had a small crash just before 12 o’clock and had a bit of pain in the shoulder and in the elbow. I stopped for a little while and then continued the day’s work, and we’re happy with what we’ve done. Our priority now is to get back towards the podium positions, so hopefully we’ve done a good job and we can do that now when we go to Assen. I look forward to there, it’s a good circuit and I’ve had a podium there before. The team are working hard and so are Honda over the last few races. It’s been a difficult period but they’re doing a great job.”