Crutchlow second, ‘feeling quite confident’

Cal Crutchlow goes into the second day of MotoGP action in Argentina feeling “quite confident” after competitive showings in FP1 and FP2, and revealed he was not even approaching toward the limit to set his times.

The Englishman placed second in both of Friday’s sessions, a day in which each of Honda’s factory men showed their strength. Marc Marquez was quickest on day one, with Dani Pedrosa behind Crutchlow in third.

“I didn’t feel I was pushing too hard,” said the 32-year old. “I didn’t feel I was taking any risk particularly. I felt quite confident with what we did today but in the end it seemed a little bit of a difficult session with regards to the wind.

“It was horrendous compared to the first session. I actually thought there was something wrong with the bike. Then I realised I was getting blown off the track. As I said, I think me and Marc have continued our form from Qatar and others haven’t. But it’s only the second session.

“The track was really slippery. There were some patches that looked wet or were wet. It’s only the second session but we’re up there and competitive. Anything could happen. I could find myself in tenth. I feel positive enough.”

Asked about tyre selection from the myriad of Michelin’s options, Crutchlow continued, “I have absolutely no idea. I’m fast on all of them. I felt competitive on all of them – front and rear. I tried two fronts and two rears. I feel good on all of them. It’s a bit of a lottery. I need it to be dry tomorrow. I have a few setting changes that I want to try.”

Both Repsol Honda riders raced with HRC’s new carbon swingarm in Qatar, and Crutchlow believes the component would be well suited to his riding style. Although it isn’t available for him to try in Argentina, he stated “there’s no point in me asking for it.”

“No, there’s no word on it,” he said. “I have no idea. At the end of the day I have to do the best job with what I have. The people in the factory and look at what the difference is between what I’m riding. I know how much that is worth over a lap, especially to my riding style.

“But as I’ve said all season so far, I’ve been happy with the support from Honda. It’s been superb. I would like the swingarm but I don’t seem to get it so there’s no point me asking for it.”

Commenting on Marquez’s moment in FP2, when he narrowly avoided disaster when exiting the Repsol Honda box, Crutchlow said, “ It’s getting ridiculous now. How does he miss Viñales this morning when the rest of us would have just cleaned him off. Then he played with him as well, which was great to watch, but I don’t think Vinny [Viñales] was too happy.

“Maybe he’s playing. I know the way Marc works. I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s happened before. Then coming out of the box, the rest of us would have taken three mechanics out and had a smashed motorcycle and a dislocated ankle. That’s the truth of it.”