The press conference held at the end of the MotoGP German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring brought together Mark Máask, Maverick Vinales et Cal Crutchlow.
As usual, we report here the raw words of Cal Crutchlow, without the slightest journalistic interpretation.
Cal, you have Batman depicted on the back of your helmet and we can safely say that you put on a superhero performance today. If we look at the FP4 you did yesterday, I don't think many people would have potentially imagined you fighting for second place. You must be happy with this third position…
“It's really good to be on the podium here, the team has done an excellent job. We worked all weekend on what we thought could be our race pace. Yesterday, I achieved the same times as those I did in the race and I think everyone was shocked to see me at the bottom of the ranking but that was my goal. I wanted to work on the pace I was going to have in the race. As Maverick said, the trail conditions weren't great. In the middle of the race, my pace was higher than that of Maverick Vinales but when Álex Rins fell, I said to myself that our place was correct, we are on the podium, nine seconds behind the others and the gap was growing lap after lap. Honestly, I was planning to attack with five laps to go, but the wind was so strong that my eyes were watering and I couldn't see much. Two laps before the checkered flag I made a big mistake at turn ten and lost the rear of the bike. The rear of the bike is what gives me the most problems on the Honda and it is difficult to manage the bike when that happens. So I told myself it was better to let Maverick ahead, that a third place was enough. I had a few good races, especially in Barcelona, it was a solid race and then at the end I made a mistake. The same for Assen, I was fast but once again I made a mistake, at the start then at the end of the race. So today we had to make a good start and be strong throughout the race. As I said, my pace was higher than that of Maverick. Being on the podium with the summer break is a good thing. I'm happy with this third position, we deserve it. Now I'm looking forward to these three weeks of vacation, like everyone else in this room, I think."
When you come back from an injury you often seem to make a podium, like in Qatar and this time at the Sachsenring…
« So pmaybe I should be injured before each race… (laughs). I don't think this would please Lucio Cecchinello who is always panicking, worrying. On Wednesday I had a strange accident on my bike and injured my knee but honestly my physical condition this weekend was good, I can't complain about it, I did the job. I wasn't embarrassed though and as I said on Thursday, this little accident wasn't going to serve as an excuse for me this weekend. When I feel good before a race and I think I can achieve a good result, then I do it. This was the case this weekend. We had to be attentive to this track which is quite special, very complicated. We have worked a lot over the last few months to get the most out of this bike, to make it turn more at the rear like the Marc Marquez. We can now use it better. For the following tracks, I know I can be more competitive. I think our bike can be one of the fastest in Brno. The second part of the season is where I still feel the most comfortable, so we’ll see.”
Did you see the fall of Álex Rins? Can you describe what happened, what you saw?
« I didn't see anything, I was behind Maverick. Álex entered the corner too hard and crashed. »
Standings for the MotoGP German Grand Prix at Sachsenring:
Photo credit and ranking: MotoGP.com
