Cal Crutchlow admits he faces a tough decision over which tyre compound he will use in tonight's United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. The Briton excelled in qualifying to take tenth place ahead of teammate Colin Edwards and was delighted to deliver a strong lap at the end of the session.
Crutchlow also spoke of the balancing act between the two tyre choices, and is leaning in favour of the harder option for the 32 lap race.
“I’m pretty happy to be in the top ten and I managed to pull something out of the bag when I needed it right at the end of the session. My race pace is only a couple of tenths off running in the top eight, so I need to get a good start. I’m still not sure what tyre to run. Lorenzo can run the hard tyre because he is so smooth, but we’re torn at the moment which one to choose. I think I’ll probably go for the hard tyre but we’ll check the setting and make sure we can be consistent. It is a long race here so the soft might not be the best option over race distance.”
Crutchlow made good progress after finishing day one in 13th place. The 25 year old admitted he is still getting to grips with the challenging Monterey circuit and would be delighted if he can match his qualifying result in the race.
“The track today seemed to be in much better condition. Yesterday I was doing 24s but now I’m doing low 22s but that’s also because I’m gaining more experience of the track. I still need to change my style a little but on a track you don’t know it is difficult to do that. Hopefully when we get to Brno that I know, I’ll feel more comfortable to be able to work on my technique because some things I do on the bike don’t help in the hot conditions. The goal tomorrow will be to finish in the top ten and get out of here with some experience and some solid points under my belt. It would also be good to have a battle with some guys as well because that helps you learn and pick up experience.”
