After scoring their first points of the 2016 season on Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix, the LCR Honda team and its driver Cal Crutchlow were back at work on Monday for a day of official testing on the Andalusian track of Jerez. de la Frontera where the race took place.
The 30-year-old Briton will have had a particularly busy day since he will have been responsible for testing a whole variety of new components with the aim of increasing his feeling behind the handlebars of his Honda RC213V in factory configuration (which exceptionally featured the logo and the colors of the Castrol brand for promotional activities and the production of an advertising clip) and thus transmit essential information to the Japanese manufacturer. The Coventry native will have had the opportunity to evolve with a new traction control update and a new set of fairings equipped with fins supplied by Honda. He will also have been able to test a new type of rubber on the front tires that Michelin had made available to the drivers. He admitted to being satisfied with the sensations obtained with these tires.
Thanks to generous sunshine and radiant weather which lasted all day, Cal Crutchlow covered a total of 82 laps on the Iberian track to set his best time in 1'39.812 with the hardest tire option at the rear . He improved on his fastest time set Saturday during qualifying.
Cal and the LCR Honda team will now focus their attention on the next event on the MotoGP calendar, namely the French Grand Prix which will take place at Le Mans from May 6 to 8.
Cal Crutchlow #35 – 7nd – 1'39.812 (+0.499)
“I rode the bike non-stop today because we had a multitude of things to try, and to be honest it was a really good day and a productive test. We had to test many elements and this allowed us to achieve very competitive times. I signed my fastest lap like most of my most significant times with the hard tire. I obviously opted for the soft option but it was at the same time when I was trying the brand new front tire from Michelin and I didn't want to take too many risks. They honestly did a quality job and it was a positive first contact with this rubber before. They may not be a perfect fit for our machine but there is definitely progress being made in this area.”
“We had to test a lot of parts supplied by Honda and we also ran with a setup really similar to that of Marc Márquez, but I must admit that my feeling is better with our own settings. He has a really unique driving style. The aileron test was also part of the work schedule established for the morning. It's relatively difficult to really perceive the beneficial effects they provide on a track like Jerez, but we still think that there is improvement in terms of wheeling, which is a good thing in itself, and their efficiency could give us additional help on circuits with different characteristics. They are relatively small, which is a good sign for other riders because they don’t generate turbulence like some other machines in the category.”
“We will now focus on the next Grand Prix with a free mind because I honestly believe that I started the race on Sunday with a bad tire. I did a lot of laps today on the same type of tire and I don't seem to have gone slower than my best time set during the GP. It's obviously disappointing but we still won our first points with this 11nd place before heading to Le Mans.”