Cal Crutchlow ultimately finished the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix in eighth place and the position of first satellite driver after putting up a tough battle under the blazing Italian sun.
After starting in seventh position from the third row of the starting grid, the LCR Honda team representative spent most of the event in the same place before Ducati factory rider Michele Pirro got the better of him a few laps before the end of the GP. A few minutes after the finish, the 30-year-old Briton learned that he had received a 1.5 second penalty which then relegated him to ninth position.
The decision came after the FIM's dedicated MotoGP race management noted that the Coventry native, who was prone to visibility problems, had exceeded the limits of the track in the first corner of the layout on five occasions. It was then established that there had indeed been a gain in time in the first part of the circuit during three of these laps. The appropriate penalty was immediately applied and a review of the results was then carried out, with Cal Crutchlow dropping to ninth place.
Subsequently, those responsible for the Dorna timing system informed the race management delegates that the time differences in all sectors of the track were not evident at the time the decision to give the sanction was taken. . The race management then asked the LCR Honda team for its data acquisition to carry out a much more in-depth analysis. With the study of this additional information and video footage, it was demonstrated that Cal Crutchlow had deliberately slowed down in the second section of the Italian track in order to negate the time gain he would have potentially obtained. In conclusion, it was decided to invalidate the penalty initially imposed and Cal was finally reclassified to eighth position in the Grand Prix.
With eight additional points on his clock, the Briton remains in eighth place in the provisional standings of the MotoGP World Championship and still retains the position of first satellite rider in the hierarchy.
The LCR Honda team will now have to travel to the north-east of Spain to compete in the next round of the championship, the Aragón Grand Prix, which will take place from September 23-25.
Cal Crutchlow #35 – 8rd
“Today I think I delivered the best race it was possible for me and the cohesion in the work with the team was really exemplary throughout the weekend to be the most competitive. During the Grand Prix, I experienced some problems with the visor of my helmet on which drops of sweat beaded after about eight laps and this affected my vision over the last twenty laps. Difficulties also arose with the front tire which made steering the bike particularly difficult and did not ideally suit the settings of the machine or my style. As usual, I gave the best of myself and we could have obtained a completely different result in more advantageous circumstances.”
“I exceeded the track limits in the first corner five times due to my visibility problems which saved me a little time in three of those five laps. I then deliberately slowed down in the second sector to give back the time advantage I might have had. We received a penalty after the finish of the race which was finally canceled after the Race Direction had access to our data acquisition and the analysis of our times in the different sections of the circuit to effectively judge that I had deliberately slowed down at certain very specific moments.”
“We are obviously not satisfied with this result but I think it was important to cross the finish line of this race and accumulate more kilometers and experience. We will now focus on the Aragón Grand Prix, hoping to achieve an honorable performance there.”
Ranking in the 2016 MotoGP world championship: 8rd / 94 points
