Cal Crutchlow: “I didn’t press the f****** devices!”
Crutchlow, who is replacing the retired Andrea Dovizioso for Yamaha for the final six races of the 2022 season, finished 15th in Motegi.
He remarkably explained: “I got to the starting grid and had some alarm out of the last corner that the front tyre wasn’t in the right range. So I panicked!
“It’s so close from the last corner to the starting grid that I didn’t press the f****** devices!
“I had no devices on, no launch control, no nothing!
“I had a terrible start compared to what I should have. I actually had a good start without the devices.
“But I lost places and I was already at the back. It took me a long time to pass the other guys. But when I did? I was as fast as Jack Miller.
“My problem was that I had to come from so far back. What happens is - it takes you three laps to pass on a Yamaha. Then the next rider? Three laps to pass them.
“Everybody you pass is faster than the one you passed before.
“If I hadn’t have f****** with no devices, I would’ve been [in the top eight or nine].
“I got away with people who were slower than me, that was my problem.
“I’m not doing those massive divebombs.”
Crutchlow also revealed: “The other situation I had? I wasn’t allowed to use the 355 disc. And I’m one of the hardest brakers in MotoGP. It was Yamaha’s choice.
“I went to the grid with a brand new set of 340 discs which has never been done in the whole history of MotoGP.
“Normally you bed them in on Friday. I bedded them in on the warm-up lap.”
The Thailand MotoGP is September 30-October 2.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
