During MotoGP qualifying, Cal Crutchlow was the last car in a small train spaced sufficiently apart to give everyone an advantage by moving up on the previous rider. The British driver therefore benefited from a certain advantage, including in relation to the locomotive Johann Zarco, and he recognizes it, but his naturalness returns to the gallop and he does not hesitate to throw a little dig at those who made the same as him.
The ways of Cal Crutchlow are sometimes impenetrable...
The LCR pilot spoke to the camera of the official website MotoGP.com.
At the end of qualifying, you managed to get the first row and start 2nd tomorrow. How do you feel ?
Cal Crutchlow : “I feel good, of course. The team did a good job, Honda did a good job, and I think it was an exciting qualifying for everyone. It was a strange situation because normally we don't wait for each other and play any games. But it seems like drivers like Rins and a few others can't make times on their own. I had an advantage at the end, but I still set my times on my own. I don't like following others because if I follow someone else, I don't concentrate well enough. But I got an advantage from it because I think all the times were very close and I had to push until the finish line. But I didn’t want anyone to follow me so I used a different strategy and it worked well.”
During the press conference, the LCR pilot clarified: “I think my strategy paid off, because I was last in the group, even if I didn't take a big advantage; it's strange when you're following another bike because you're trying to go fast where their bike is already fast, so I made more mistakes. It was a strange qualifying session in the sense that the drivers were following each other, but they obviously knew the importance of this race, how closely fought it will be since the first three are separated by less than a tenth. It was strange for that reason but entertaining, I'm sure, for the crowd and the journalists. But not so entertaining for the drivers. The race will probably also be the same: we like a battle, but not with 10 or 12 guys because then it's too close.”
Cal Crutchlow was then asked if he thought he could stay with Marc Marquez in the race…
“Or he’ll have to catch me!” It depends on what departure he makes…. or we will both have to catch up with Valentino; we don't know how the race will go. In MotoGP, the start is really very important to try to escape and be in the leading group. I think it's possible to be on the podium tomorrow, but I think we could just as easily end up seventh or eighth. We’ll see how it goes.”
Dutch Grand Prix Assen MotoGP J.2: Chronos
| 1 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1'32.791 | ||
| 2 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'32.832 | 0.041 | 0.041 |
| 3 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'32.850 | 0.059 | 0.018 |
| 4 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'32.870 | 0.079 | 0.020 |
| 5 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'32.933 | 0.142 | 0.063 |
| 6 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'32.984 | 0.193 | 0.051 |
| 7 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'33.029 | 0.238 | 0.045 |
| 8 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'33.072 | 0.281 | 0.043 |
| 9 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'33.120 | 0.329 | 0.048 |
| 10 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 1'33.167 | 0.376 | 0.047 |
| 11 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'33.292 | 0.501 | 0.125 |
| 12 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'34.015 | 1.224 | 0.723 |
| Q1 Results: | ||||||
| Q2 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'33.578 | ||
| Q2 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'33.600 | 0.022 | 0.022 |
| 13 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1'33.625 | 0.047 | 0.025 |
| 14 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | 1'33.666 | 0.088 | 0.041 |
| 15 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | 1'33.666 | 0.088 | |
| 16 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1'33.672 | 0.094 | 0.006 |
| 17 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | 1'33.995 | 0.417 | 0.323 |
| 18 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'34.125 | 0.547 | 0.130 |
| 19 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'34.145 | 0.567 | 0.020 |
| 20 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'34.149 | 0.571 | 0.004 |
| 21 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 1'34.268 | 0.690 | 0.119 |
| 22 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 1'35.192 | 1.614 | 0.924 |
| 23 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | 1'35.646 | 2.068 | 0.454 |
| 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda |
