If, until now, Cal Crutchlow had managed to get by between different tire and engine tests to establish his RC213V as one of the fastest Hondas, this was not the case yesterday, after a first day of Wednesday to familiarize yourself with the final configuration of the 2016 Honda engine.
Apparently, there are still some problems in the agreement between the front axle of the Honda chassis and the Michelin tires.
And, as usual, the British pilot never minces his words and expresses his thoughts very clearly...
Cal Crutchlow #35 – 13th – 1'56.584
“It will have been a bad day today. I think it's clear that we're really in trouble. All Honda riders are plagued with problems at the moment and we need to work closely with them. We have difficulty braking properly when entering curves and turning the bike as we would like in corners when the machine is on the corner. However, we are fully aware that Honda is doing a lot of work for our team and we are providing them with the most accurate information in return so they can improve the situation.”
“We will now see how things will evolve because I was confident that I would be able to set a fast lap today but unfortunately it was impossible for me. I think that in a race situation we could certainly perform better than the situation may suggest but we absolutely have to progress as much as we can.”
“The major problem today for everyone was the tire allocation. We are subject to significant vibrations with certain rubbers and it is impossible for us to use them. We rode all day with only one type of front tire. We are not going to stop working and a scrupulous analysis of the data will keep us busy next night. The team will thus store as much information as possible which it will communicate to Honda. We must remain optimistic and hope for a productive final day of testing.”
