The first games of the Grand Prix of Qatar are awaited with all the more impatience as the off-season revealed in its tests a field of exceptional quality. Everyone seems to be holding on to nothing and everyone can therefore hope for everything. However, you have to listen carefully to detect certain comments that could establish a hierarchy different from that of a chrono on a winter time sheet. For example Cal Crutchlow.
If there is one who left the last tests at Losail with headaches, it is the Englishman from the LCR Honda team. The latter has experience with the RC213V, and he leads the Honda at a hell of a pace. But the 2019 version paralyzed him. And it has nothing to do with his reconstructed ankle which he still has to deal with…
On the eve of launching into the fray, he alerts: “ to be completely honest, I don't know why I can't find my feelings with the bike anymore. This is our current weak point and I believe it is shared by the other Honda riders. But I can't speak for them ».
He insists : " I don't think we have the same quality up front as last year. Until then, it was our major weapon. If we fell forward a lot, it was not because we had a problem but because we were abusing this quality that we were pushing to its limits. Some prefer to play more from the rear of the bike but then have tire problems at the end of the game. We were the opposite ».
He adds on crash.net : " we were good in the braking zones and I feel like we lost that. Honda has done considerable work on the engine, it is truly excellent. But we need to understand why we lost this feeling at the front. I am not able to turn the bike around the corner like before ».
We will have to scrutinize the performance of Hondas to know if the case is particular or general…
