It was a day full of emotions experienced Cal Crutchlow at Le Mans in this Saturday of the French Grand Prix of MotoGP. The LCR driver did the job by taking fourth place at the end of qualifying, a performance which puts him at the head of the Honda clan. In front Marc Márquez in person. But the Englishman also had his share of worries when he saw his friend Jack Miller suffer the most terrible accident since the start of the Sarthe meeting.
A violent fall that he saw. The British tells the rest like this: “ I saw the accident and stopped on the track. I wanted to see if he moved before leaving. You know, Jack is a good friend, one of the best even. And it honestly wasn't nice to see him fly away like that. It was spectacular. Often you see from the first seconds after the fall if the rider is okay. I was relieved to see him get up. Jack is really brave. He then qualified and finished eleventh ».
The friend being safe, it is time to take stock of yourself: “ this weekend is quite strange. It seems that with this Honda, the more we drive, the better we are and we need two more days of good weather to be competitive. Even during qualifying the track was not completely dry. The team did a good job, but I made a few mistakes during my fast laps which caused me to miss the first row. I apologize to the team ».
For Sunday, he predicts: “ I found my racing rhythm. It's positive. Starting from the second row will be nice. The bike is not perfect in some areas, but it brakes hard. We'll see what we can still win tomorrow, Sunday, even if cool temperatures await us during the warm-up ».
« Now, as you can see, it's hard to compete with the Yamahas. Hopefully the engineers pull something out of their hats tonight to make us faster. I'm optimistic and I think it will be a good Sunday for us ».
We will recall that Cal Crutchlow is in direct competition with Johann zarco, third on the starting grid at Le Mans, for the classification of independent drivers.
#FrenchGP Le Mans J.2: Chronos
1. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 31.994s [Lap 7/8] 303km/h (Top Speed)
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 32.100s +0.106s [8/8] 302km/h
3. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 32.229s +0.235s [6/6] 300km/h
4.
Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 32.300s +0.306s [8/8] 303km/h
5. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 32.493s +0.499s [8/9] 301km/h
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 32.726s +0.732s [7/7] 308km/h
7. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 33.119s +1.125s [3/7] 307km/h
8. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 33.399s +1.405s [7/7] 302km/h
9. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 33.517s +1.523s [8/8] 304km/h
10. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 33.629s +1.635s [4/9] 296km/h
11. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 33.756s +1.762s [3/5] 299km/h
12. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 33.955s +1.961s [3/5] 299km/h
13. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 32.415s 305km/h
14. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 32.484s 306km/h
15. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
1m 32.695s 302km/h
16. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17)
1m 32.830s 305km/h
17. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
1m 32.844s 304km/h
18. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 33.187s 301km/h
19. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 33.231s 303km/h
20. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 33.233s 311km/h
21. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)*
1m 33.817s 297km/h
22. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 33.875s 303km/h
23. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
1m 34.082s 304km/h
