Following a lengthy five-week summer break, the MotoGP™ Championship makes a welcome return to action at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The Michelin® Grand Prix of Styria will see the grid geared up and ready to go as they prepare to do battle, while a familiar face will join them throughout the course of the next few weeks.
Joining the Petronas SRT squad for the two races in Austria, and also for the British GP at Silverstone, Cal Crutchlow is looking forward to jumping back on to Yamaha’s M1 and being back on the grid – for the first time since the 2020 Portuguese GP. Although the Brit didn’t have the best of races at Spielberg last year, he finished the 2018 edition just shy of the podium – in fourth.
Crutchlow comes into the Malaysian team as cover for the injured Franco Morbidelli, and his main focus for the weekend is to acclimatise to the Petronas SRT machinery and make steady progress session by session.
“I’m really looking forward to being back on the grid and getting into the swing of a race weekend again, although it’s going to feel very different to the job that I’ve been doing this year as Yamaha’s test rider. The circuit at Spielberg isn’t one that I’ve enjoyed too much in the past, however, I did finish fourth in 2018 and that was a good result. It’s not a fast and flowing circuit, it’s somewhere where you need to be quick and very precise,” said Crutchlow.
“I don’t have a target as such when it comes to results, my main aim will just be to try to improve session by session. I’ll be working with Ramon Forcada, who knows the Yamaha bike very well. I think it will be good as Ramon was with Yamaha when I was. I’m sure it will go well; I just want to make sure that I do a good job for the team.”
You’ll be able to follow how Crutchlow progresses throughout the weekend, as he gets his first taste of 2021 Championship action at 9.55 am (CET) with Friday Free Practice.