LCR Honda Team rider Cal Crutchlow upped the pace on Tuesday during pre-season testing for the 2016 MotoGP World Championship in the second of three days of testing currently taking place at the track. Sepang in Malaysia.
Following the withdrawal of the softest tire option for the rear tire due to safety concerns, the 30-year-old Briton worked tirelessly with the hardest compounds in extreme heat and humidity. He thus managed to improve his time from the day before by more than a second and a half. In the last minutes of the day, he set a time of 2'00.899 which places him in fifth position in the hierarchy of the day.
These tests in Malaysia end on Wednesday and the teams will have the difficult task of collecting as much information and data as possible tomorrow before traveling to Australia two weeks later for the second of three pre-season testing sessions.
The MotoGP World Championship will begin in Qatar under the floodlights of the Losail track on March 20.
Cal Crutchlow #35 – 5th (2'00.899)
« Tuesday was a particularly demanding day. We thus found ourselves in a situation which was beyond our control and beyond the control of all the other drivers. We therefore had to work as efficiently as possible with the hard tyres. We only drove with this option throughout this second day of testing and we did not have the opportunity to use a soft compound.
We have again focused our attention on the electronics and many other parameters in order to optimize the tuning of the motorcycle. Then when we needed to pick up the pace, we were able to do it. This is one of the main reasons why our satisfaction is greater than yesterday, but we will once again work hard this evening: the data stored since yesterday is crucial for the LCR team as well as for Honda who will give us guide in the direction to follow for the upcoming season.
Tomorrow should be another rewarding day, so let's wait and see how things turn out. »
