On the occasion of the Australian Grand Prix on the Phillip Island circuit, and for the first time this year, the WithU Yamaha RNF team was rewarded for its efforts with the arrival of its two riders, Cal Crutchlow et Darryn binder, in points.
The first day had however been difficult for the Briton, who only appeared 18th in the ranking: “ I am disappointed with today's result. I probably had the worst feeling of my career at Phillip Island with the bike. The instability of the bike is not in our favor at the moment. We are really struggling to find a good setting with the bike. We tried a few different things, we tried the hard rear tire on the Yamaha which allowed us to do a few laps. We got some essential information for them. After that we tried to work on the bike's settings to improve stability, but the bike doesn't feel like mine here at the moment. We will think about the settings this evening for tomorrow's free practice. »
On the other side of the box, the South African discovered, with pleasure but without much result since he was 23rd, the Australian track on the handlebars of a MotoGP: “ It was a really cool day here at Phillip Island. I was really happy to finally be able to do a few laps on this circuit with MotoGP. This is definitely my favorite track on the calendar. We were lucky today with the weather, which was a bit changeable. This morning there were a few small rivers crossing the track, but luckily this afternoon we had a full dry session. I'm slowly but surely finding my way around Phillip Island. I feel good with the bike and I can't wait until tomorrow to take a few steps forward. »
In a great overall effort, Saturday saw the two starters get closer to the points zone, Cal Crutchlow qualifying 17th and Darryn binder 18th, the two separated only by less than a tenth of a second. leaving factory driver Franco Morbidelli in 23rd position, 4 tenths behind.
Cal Crutchlow : " I feel better today than I did yesterday. Unfortunately, the wind affected us again today with the instability of the bike. I think all the Yamaha riders struggled when the wind picked up in the afternoon session. I was still unlucky not to be quick enough to get through to Q2, but I'm happy with my qualifying time. The problem is we're just not fast enough for MotoGP at the moment. Everyone is riding really well. I am positive for a good race tomorrow. I feel better with the bike and I can probably handle the situation a little better than the guys around me, so I hope to be able to come back during the race. We worked hard as a team last night. We try different things than what Yamaha tries in the Factory Team, just to get feedback on how the bike works with different settings. We will see tomorrow if we can live up to it. »
Darryn binder : " Today was a good day here at Philip Island. In each session we made good progress and in qualifying we managed to get our best position so far this year. I feel like we're going in the right direction, taking decent steps forward, so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's race. I feel really good with all the tires and we are doing a good job this weekend. So I'm going to go out and have fun tomorrow and enjoy my favorite track on the calendar ! »
Against all expectations, the rain returned on Sunday morning for the cold MotoGP warm-up session in Australia but, after the media joy, the sun appeared and dried out the track, allowing the 27-lap race to take place on the dry.
Cal Crutchlow started from P17 and lost several positions in the first laps to find himself in P21 on the second lap. From there, he began his comeback and gained one place after another, finding himself in the points on the 13th lap. He made some extra efforts in the second half of the race to finally see the flag in 13th position.
Cal Crutchlow : " Honestly, I'm a little disappointed with the result but I caused it myself, I made a mistake at the start and fell almost to last position, so I had to come back. My problem was that on the first lap I had no heat in the brakes. I got a good start, went into the first corner and widened and the bike started shaking and I downshifted. I was happy with my pace in the race, I just made my way and passed a few guys. If I had followed Johann (Zarco) and rode like I should have done here, I could have stayed there because I had the pace. I felt really good, the best I've felt all weekend, so it's a shame for the result, but the last five laps I had no tires left. But I was pretty happy with the bike and I felt in control of the bike with the lap time I was doing. Now we are going to Malaysia and we are going to try to win with Fabio, because now all we can do is try to win. »
Darryn binder made a good start from P18 to move up to 15th place on the first lap. Although he lost a few places in the following laps, and was overtaken by his teammate on lap 13, he managed to stay in the wake of Cal Crutchlow, keeping pace with the Yamaha test rider, which allowed him to gain another position. The MotoGP debutant finally crossed the line in P14, which is the third time this year he has managed to score points.
Darryn binder : " I'm really happy with today's race. I'm happy to be back on track for points. I had a very good race. I was in good company, behind Cal for a good part of the race. The gap to first place is the closest it has ever been, at 14 seconds! I think I did a good job this weekend, improving each session and putting in a solid race. I'm happy with how things ended, it's great to get some points again and now I'm looking forward to Malaysia. »
Razlan Razali, founder and team director of the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP team: “ It was a fantastic race by both riders, Cal Crutchlow and Darryn Binder came in 13th and 14th respectively, the two best Yamahas in this weekend's race and brought home valuable points for the team. Darryn had a good start and a solid race until his tires deteriorated, putting him just behind Cal. Meanwhile, Cal has also had a really good rhythm to be where he is. Overall it was a fantastic race from both riders and the team, and being the best Yamaha at the Phillip Island circuit. »
Wilco Zeelenberg, Team Manager WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team: “ P13 and P14 at Phillip Island is the team's best result this season. Of course, it was a crazy race up front, but our boys also fought hard to finish a few seconds behind the winner of the race which was very close. They fought together until the end. We are very happy with the results, the points for the boys are already a great achievement at the level we are racing at at the moment. We are very happy and are on our way to Malaysia.
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MotoGP Australian Grand Prix results:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
