This Thursday August 12, 2021, Cal Crutchlow answered questions from journalists from the Red Bull Ring circuit, on the eve of the Austrian Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the English rider, who will participate this weekend in his second race for the Petronas Yamaha SRT team.
As usual, we report here the words of Cal Crutchlow without the slightest formatting.
How are you approaching this new weekend under the colors of Petronas Yamaha?
" I hope have a better weekend than last week, because we had a lot of problems with the degradation of the rear tire during the race. We now have answers to our questions, and we can make sure this doesn't happen again. Overall, I'm very happy to get back to work with this team, because they did a really good job last week. It was really nice to be back with a good team. What's good is that we're going to start this weekend with a little more information, especially from my side about the bike. So it should be a little easier on the first day. »
The track's limitations were the subject of much debate last week, and you even described it as a "crap circuit." If it were up to you, would you keep this track on the calendar?
" I have made this comment because of track safety. I think if safety was better, drivers would have a lot more fun racing here. It's not the most fascinating circuit in the world, but every year it provides great racing. But there is a security problem. In an ideal world I would keep this track on the calendar, but make changes to it. The track conditions, especially when it rains, are truly horrible. It's a beautiful area and it would be a really nice trail if it was safer. It was initially proposed to change turns 3 and 4, and I think if that were the case it would make everything a lot more interesting. »
“If safety were better, pilots would have more fun here”
How do you feel physically after such a long period without riding MotoGP?
" After The race I was in very good physical condition, and that surprised me. I still have to say that my arm was a little sore, and it has been all week. It must be related to some sort of arm-pump. Afterwards I don't know how my body will react to two races in a row. Furthermore, as you know, I've had a lot of problems with my back over the last six months, and the doctors still don't know what's wrong with my back. But for now this one isn't too painful, it's something positive. »
It appears that you have encountered a problem with your tire, can you tell us what the problem was?
" The tire degradation was really high, much higher than that of Fabio or Maverick. We will have to look at this in more depth. »
