So almost nothing has leaked from the tests of the 2017 Honda led by Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa following the Aragon Grand Prix, we can remove the word “almost” regarding Cal Crutchlow; not a photo, not a statement, and not even a date, since the test was apparently not done on the same day as for the official team.
However, the British driver had explained a few hours before the Aragon Grand Prix what his role was during these and previous tests, which is not uninteresting since he now uses a different frame from the other private Honda drivers, at a time when its performance is experiencing a notable increase. Comments collected by Peter Mc Laren for crash.net of which we report here some extracts.
“Yes, I will try the 2017 test bike. Ultimately that's why I'm here, I'm here to try for them. I'm testing for them constantly during this year.
Our intention is to use the new chassis again. I have two and I also had two at the last race (Misano). But in the last race, I still believe that the chassis we had was not the best chassis for this circuit, even if the front tire did not help us either. We know Marc tried the harder front tire in post-GP testing, and it was much better. But I'm going to stick with what I have, because we want to see how it performs on this circuit. What do I have to lose? I'm not fighting for the championship. So I can say yes or no for us and for Honda. »
The chassis Cal Crutchlow uses was used by Dani Pedrosa in Barcelona before being rejected by the Spanish driver.
“I know, of course, Dani raced with it in Barcelona in June, and he was on the podium. But it had negative points. Perhaps on this track, the negative revealed itself a little more. And maybe if I rode that track with it, it would have been even worse than with Dani, because of the size, weight, fins, etc.
But I can go back at any time, I could have used it for a session and abandoned it, it's just that I wanted to continue with him, we decided to continue with him. Plus, it's good that we have some mileage with it.
We don't think it would work for Marc's style, perhaps. But that doesn't mean he won't do it in the end. I think there are some areas where it could be improved.
It's better than the other in one area, but the other chassis is better in another area. So we are gaining something in one area but losing something elsewhere. [The two frames] are like opposites. We are on three different chassis now. Marc and Dani are basically on the same chassis, a little different because of their size and the way they drive, and mine is a little different. »
