During the second day of pre-season testing at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, Cal Crutchlow once again impressed by setting the third fastest time of the day, ahead of both factory Honda riders.
After a rainy night which delayed the drivers' entry onto the track due to patches of humidity present on the surface, temperatures then climbed up to 40° in the middle of the day, these two conditions limiting the number of possible laps .
Despite this, Crutchlow still managed to complete 65 laps of the track, while collecting valuable data as he helped HRC by testing parts for the 213 RC2018V.
Towards the end of the day, the British driver pushed hard to put in a fast lap, and although he didn't feel it was a perfect lap, he stopped the clock with a best time of 1'59.443, at less than a tenth of a second behind the fastest man of the day, Maverick Vinales.
Cal Crutchlow, 3rd, (1'59.443 on lap 56 of 65): “We had another positive day today, where we had a lot to test for ourselves and for Honda, and therefore the schedule was very, very busy. Unfortunately we had to start late because the track was a bit wet, but overall we are happy with our performance today.
We worked very well with the used tires throughout the day, which was very important. Then we managed to get a fast lap towards the end, but I had a bit of a bad feeling on that lap. So it's actually very positive that the time was so good, even if I didn't think it was great. This also meant that we only used one tire from our allocation to be able to attack the time.
So tomorrow we have to continue to work on what we have in our schedule, and we will work with Honda and the team to see where we can make improvements. »
Testing will continue in Malaysia tomorrow, with a third and final day of testing.
MotoGP #SepangTest J.2: Chronos
1. Maverick Vinales, Yamaha, 1:59,355 min
2. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, +0,035 sec
3. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, +0,088
4. Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati, +0,143
5. Jack Miller, Ducati, +0,154
6. Johann Zarco, Yamaha, +0,347
7. Marc Marquez, Honda, +0,375
8. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati, +0,377
9. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, +0,392
10. Andrea Iannone, Suzuki, +0,562
11. Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia, +0,570
12. Dani Pedrosa, Honda, +0,644
13. Alex Rins, Suzuki, +0,687
14. Pol Espargaro, KTM, +0,907
15. Tito Rabat, Ducati, +1,151
16. Bradley Smith, KTM, +1,165
17. Franco Morbidelli, Honda, +1,307
18. Mika Kallio, KTM, +1,346
19. Álvaro Bautista, Ducati, +1,373
20. Karel Abraham, Ducati, +1,559
21. Takaaki Nakagami, Honda, +1,597
22. Sylvain Guintoli, Suzuki, +2,037
23. Scott Redding, Aprilia, +2,101
24. Yonny Hernandez, Yamaha, +2,199
25. Xavier Simeon, Ducati, +2,334
26. Tom Lüthi, Honda, +2,455
