Crutchlow has 'something in our pocket’ after fighting fourth

The was result was one thing. Achieving it through a left field tyre choice was another. All in all, Cal Crutchlow was pleased to come away from the first MotoGP round of 2018 with a fourth place, and believes he has “something in our pocket,” going forward.

The Englishman was in the thick of the leading group in Sunday’s pulsating curtain raiser, but was unable to hold on to the three leading men as the race edged toward its dramatic climax. Fourth place still represents Crutchlow’s best start to a MotoGP season since 2012.

Aside from the result, the LCR Honda man was pleased a risky tyre choice had paid off. So often in previous years Crutchlow had no option but to select Michelin’s hardest front tyre option, due to the considerable demands Honda’s RC213V places on its front end.

Here, however, Crutchlow started the 22 laps with the ‘medium’ option, a choice that raised a few eyebrows with fellow Honda men Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa opting for the ‘hard’. And that followed a crash using the same compound in the afternoon warm-up session.

“I have to be happy,” said Crutchlow on Sunday evening. “Sure, at the start of the weekend the aim was the podium. I never got it, but after this morning I crashed through my own fault. I had some doubt in mind about my tyre [choice]. I crashed because of my own fault, not the tyre.

“I managed the situation very well in the race, I felt. I was sat in fifth thinking I could win. But when the crunch came I was with Vale, and I thought I could pass him. I knew Vale was going to be there until the end, and thought, ‘Just sit pretty behind him.’

“Then he passed Zarco and I got stuck behind Zarco for one lap and I lost one second. I did a 1m 56.6s and the front guys did a 1m 55.6s. The next lap I did a 55.6 passing Zarco and trying to come across the gap. But they did a 55.2 because they were battling and pushing a lot.

“I felt good today. I felt we managed the situation with the front tyre very well. As you know, it’s very unlike me to go on a medium when Marc and even Dani go on a hard. I’m pleased we’ve got that in our pocket now, that we can start to manage things a little better.

“This track doesn’t suit me particularly, let alone the Honda. But the Honda has obviously improved as well and I’ve improved riding-wise, sure. The combination means we were competitive. Marc has been on the podium here before, and it was expected that he was there. We did well to be in that group, battling.”

Honda’s lead riders have spoken of the extra torque and outright power available through its 2018-spec engine, and Crutchlow’s tyre choice suggests the new RC213V is less dependent on making up time in the braking zone than its predecessor.

Still, he had concerns over his decision ahead of the race. “I’ve been concerned about it, don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I crashed on it this morning! I just pushed too hard in those conditions with that tyre. It wasn’t even optimum pressure. If you want the truth, I braked later than my qualifying lap but I had 21 litres. Yeah, my own fault.

“I had some doubt about the front tyre of course, but I had the same feeling about the hard. I went into the weekend thinking ‘I’m going to race the medium,’ which is never happening for me. Once I made my mind up, I was stubborn, thinking I was going to race the medium. I wanted to prove to myself, my team and Honda that we could manage the medium front.

“That’s a good thing now. There weren’t many times that we could have managed the front over the years, because I’d always say, ‘F**k it, I’ll use the hard.’ But we did well to do what we did. The turning of the bike was OK. With the hard it was good for the braking. Turning? I felt the same. But I wanted to manage the medium. That was my stubbornness. It was me proving a point to myself, and to Honda.”

Crutchlow was also full of praise for the MotoGP class, after another breathless showing on Sunday. “One thing I will say is, it’s not nice riding down the front straight looking at the big screen and there are seven people abreast, and you’re in it,” he joked.

“You’re sitting there, thinking. ‘This is ridiculous at 350kph!’ The big screen is just before the braking and you go past knowing you have to brake at some point. It’s good to watch for you lot, but when you’re in the middle of it…

“In the end, a great start to the championship for many teams, riders and fans. We have to give credit to MotoGP as a whole, the rules system, because that’s what makes the close racing.

“We have a lot of manufacturers up there. No one is dominating. That’s credit to Carmelo and the way they’ve done the rules. We know this is the best motorsport event in the world. Even Moto2 and Moto3 was great racing.”