At the last Grand Prix, the Englishman from the LCR team qualified sixteenth in Valencia, then improved on Sunday by placing eighth in the wheel of Jack Miller. The 5 Hondas entered finished in the top 10. During the following tests, Cal was in tenth position on the first day, 1.070 from Maverick Vinales, then in sixth place the second at 0.621 from Marc Marquez.
Crutchlow's role is now different as he has become an official Honda rider, replacing Jack Miller at the end of his three-year contract, with a factory bike and a salary paid by the manufacturer. We are therefore counting on him at HRC to develop and advance the RC213V. Here's how the kid from Coventry envisions his future mount for 2018.
“I would like a more neutral bike. But it is not an easy task. If everyone knew what to change on their bike, we would all have crossed the finish line in the same tenth of a second, Crutchlow explained to speedweek, apart from errors or differences between drivers.
“It's difficult because the Honda has a lot of strong points. If you then build something else, you risk losing the positive aspects. »
What are they ? “ It's the entry into the corner, but in this respect, I think we lost something in 2017. Or the opponents progressed, of course. We want to keep our strengths, but I think we have to give up something in other areas.
“With Marc Márquez we are asking exactly the same things from Honda, almost everything is the same. Even though we've gone in slightly different directions, our priorities are the same right now.
“And since he has priority at Honda, it's very good if we want to go in the same direction.
“I don't expect massive changes, but I hope the whole overall thing will be a little easier for all of us next year.
What's at the top of your list? “ I can't tell you, I know they set priorities, for example, more grip, but I think almost all drivers want it. »
Photo © LCR Honda
Source: Sharleena Wirsing for Speedweek. com
