Cal Crutchlow is therefore the one who found himself left standing in the game of musical chairs organized by Honda. A verdict which arrived quite early, so that the Englishman had time to digest the fact that Pol Espargaró, then Alex Marquez were preferred to him. He will continue to do the job and is working on his future, thinking about Aprilia and looking towards Ducati. He always has good morale and a clear tongue. The proof…
2020 will be the last season of Cal Crutchlow with the factory Honda. He had an HRC contract within the LCR satellite team for which he notably brought three victories. And even if all the staff praise the service provided during their assignment, they are invited to leave the premises.
Alex Marquez will take his place because Pol Espargaro will settle within the team Repsol Honda as a teammate Marc Marquez. The Englishman welcomed the future ex of KTM... " I'm not surprised by the news, I've known everything for a while » commented Cal who nevertheless clarified: “ in any case, I'm surprised by who they chose. If they had taken a rider like Dovizioso it would have been different for me, but they chose a rider who only had one podium in MotoGP. And they moved Alex Marquez after making his debut for the official team ».
In case we have not understood his point of view, he makes an accounting comparison with the newly promoted: “ with Honda, I had many successes, I won 3 races, made 12 podiums. Compare what riders like Miller, Morbidelli, Redding or Luthi did, the results speak for me. I did a good job ". At Honda that is.
« However, I don't think it will change anything for me during the season, I think Honda will continue to support me » Cal said. “For testing, they gave me parts to try, even if they didn't work for me. To improve the bike, engineers need data, without races or tests it is difficult to do so ».
The Honda problem is still there
Regarding the Jerez test which was a sort of pre-start of MotoGP after months of confinement, Cal Crutchlow assures that the RC213V has not completely resolved its problems, although the rider is quite happy with his return to MotoGP.
« The last time I got on a bike was during the tests in Qatar. Considering this, I went surprisingly well, especially in the morning. In the afternoon, in the heat, I had even more difficulty, we have to work, I had difficulty turning the bike, especially in the fastest corners ". The new rear tire brought by Michelin is also part of the trouble.
« I think it's a good tire, it has more grip but that's precisely the cause of the problems for Honda he explained. " We used to slide the rear, in order to close the corners, but now there is too much grip and it's pushing on the front tire, we should remove some grip ". 14rd the afternoon, Cal Crutchlow finished seventh in the combined ranking… And second Honda.
MotoGP Test Jerez: afternoon and combined times
