It is the fear of this Thursday evening spent on the Losail route which receives the Qatar Grand Prix, first meeting of the year. As soon as the test session started, Cal Crutchlow had to stop his effort because of a smoking Honda. We escaped the worst since the Briton tried to manage a crisis situation as best as possible: oil on the rear tire at 330 km/h.
Fortunately, the LCR pilot escaped without incident: “ I don't know what happened but I obviously had an oil leak. Investigations are underway ". The double 2016 winner adds: “ I almost crashed in turn 1 and was at about 330 km/h. To be frank, it haunted me throughout the rest of the session. ».
« I drove badly, I was apprehensive. When something like that happens to you, it takes a little time to let it go. It's not like you fell knowing why. In this case, you get back on the bike knowing that you must not do the same stupid thing again. There, it's something that you don't control, it's in the engine, and it follows you afterwards ».
Despite this incident and the fact of having ridden with his reserve motorcycle, Crutchlow finished seventh in his journey: “ I drove poorly and considering that, my times aren't that bad. I was on a motorcycle that I had never really ridden before. She had to do two turns and finally she served throughout the session ».
We don't know if this incident cost him one of his seven engines allocated for the year, but it caused him to waste a set of tires: " I was scheduled to use two trains, I had to use three. It had to be done because we are expecting rain later. ».
Public chat crash.net, he also comments on the work done by Honda on the new engine: “ we don't yet have the best electronics to take advantage of our engine. When it does, everything will be better. Honda works hard on this and it's the key to being fast. Ducati is better at this than the rest of us. They certainly have a good motorcycle, but above all good electronics. Honda will get there, it's a question of time. Especially with the kind of engine we have ».
MotoGP Qatar J1 Ranking :
1. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 54.316s [Lap 17/18] 335km/h (Top Speed)
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 54.912s +0.596s [17/18] 338km/h
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 55.210s +0.894s [15/16] 338km/h
4. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 55.587s +1.271s [15/15] 333km/h
5. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 55.607s +1.291s [15/17] 343km/h
6. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 55.624s +1.308s [16/16] 334km/h
7. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 55.639s +1.323s [15/15] 334km/h
8. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 55.792s +1.476s [17/18] 334km/h
9. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 55.799s +1.483s [18/18] 340km/h
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 55.872s +1.556s [14/15] 332km/h
11. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 55.873s +1.557s [5/17] 343km/h
12. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 56.000s +1.684s [16/16] 340km/h
13. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 56.027s +1.711s [16/17] 335km/h
14. Alvaro Bautista ESP Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 56.128s +1.812s [17/19] 344km/h
15. Karel Abraham CZE Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 56.399s +2.083s [14/14] 338km/h
16. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 56.419s +2.103s [8/15] 342km/h
17. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 56.453s +2.137s [10/16] 335km/h
18. Alex Rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 1m 56.502s +2.186s [15/16] 335km/h
19. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 56.725s +2.409s [17/18] 336km/h
20. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 56.725s +2.409s [13/14] 342km/h
21. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 57.630s +3.314s [11/16] 335km/h
22. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 57.887s +3.571s [12/14] 331km/h
23. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 58.114s +3.798s [17/17] 333km/h
