Cal Crutchlow found his way back to the podium in Australia on a Phillip Island track which, a year ago, almost became the final destination for his career. A revenge on fate which gives confidence and a smile to the Englishman both on the bike and in his words. At the end of a performance which gave him second place behind Marc Márquez, he spoke about the other Honda driver who is his new teammate named Johann Zarco. With the frankness of great days, he even became a visionary for Honda by opening up about the situation of Jorge Lorenzo…
Un Johann zarco looking for a rebound in MotoGP and a Jorge Lorenzo at a standstill in his career are the two poles of the premier category of Grands Prix at the end of the 2019 season in search of continued interest. Bring the two drivers together within the same brand and you will inevitably be tempted to put them in direct competition for a duel with a fatal outcome for the future of one of them.
Despite the denials of official speeches, this is indeed the current atmosphere and Cal Crutchlow put his two cents into this sensitive debate. And with his style, he rather threw fuel on the fire. On his new French teammate, he declared: “ to speak like Márquez, I don't care about Zarco. I really don't know what to say about his performance. He recently arrived and made his debut in a weekend at Phillip Island which was certainly not ideal with the rain and wind. His position seems good to me, although, to tell the truth, I expected more, since he is world champion and he is in his third year in MotoGP »
He continues by clarifying his thoughts a little more: “ he used a 2018 Honda version that was easier than mine, so on a track like this it should have been more competitive given the presence of so many corners »
On these bases, he responds on GP One to the question of whether Johann zarco can be a replacement for Jorge Lorenzo next to Marc Marquez, in the event of developments between now and the end of the season, with a view to 2020: “ I think it's stupid to continue to think that Zarco can replace Lorenzo on the Honda. I understand that many people hope so, but putting Johann in the official team would be a very risky choice. At the moment Jorge has problems and I think that is very clear, but when he finds the right competitiveness he will undoubtedly be faster than Zarco. »
Next weekend will take place the Malaysian Grand Prix which will bring together all these beautiful people on the Sepang track…
