Tech3 rider Cal Crutchlow works hard on first practice day at Phillip Island – MotoGP news
Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Cal Crutchlow had a slightly tough first practice day at Phillip Island.
Though the weather conditions were fine for practice but Crutchlow could not take any position in top ten slots.
Crutchlow said, “Today's result doesn't look too bad on the timesheets because although I am down in 12th, I am less than half-a-second away from Colin and he is fourth. But it was a very difficult day to be honest because I had a lot of grip issues and
the bike was hard to turn as well.”
The British rider was 14th in the final time sheet for the first practice session. With a little change in the setup, he was able to improve two positions and came 12th in the afternoon practice session.
Crutchlow added, “If I run over any rough tarmac or any bumps I nearly crash, so I've got to sit down with my guys tonight and come up with a plan to try and make the bike better for tomorrow. We made an improvement to the bike after this morning and that
was reflected in the times.”
In the afternoon session, he had good pace and beat Valentino Rossi in the time sheet. The Brit was following other Ducati factory rider Nicky Hayden, who was 11th.
Crutchlow assumes that there is still a lot of margin for improvement in his Tech3 M1. He is looking forward to make significant changes in the setup for the second practice day.
He is highly motivated to finish in top ten slots, and he is keen to tweak his setup for the coming day.
On the other side of the garage, the Brit’s teammate, Colin Edwards was riding fast among the top squad. In the first session, he was at the fourth seat with only three riders ahead him, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli.
While in the second session, he dropped in the standings and took ninth seat in the time charts. Edwards made some changes in his setup and took hard tyres on the track which cost him some positions.
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