Cal Crutchlow rued a missed opportunity after crashing out in the early stages of the United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. The Briton impressed to qualify in the top ten and was following the two works Ducatis and Rizla Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista in the opening laps.
But Crutchlow lost control of his YZR-M1 on lap four, forcing him into retirement, and was particularly frustrated as he believed he had the pace to run with the riders ahead of him.
“I lost the front at the second corner and it was a similar problem to what we’ve been experiencing in recent races. It was fine this morning in cooler conditions but as soon as the track temperature goes up, I have a few problems. Strangely it was only at that corner. It is a shame because I think we had a good pace. Bautista wasn’t getting away from me and he quickly got up to Valentino and Nicky, so I think I could have gone with him and been in that battle.”
“I’m disappointed I didn’t finish the race and it is not good for the Championship but I wasn’t the only one to crash today and it shows all of us are pushing on the limit. We have still learned quite a bit this weekend and the bike certainly felt better than it did in the last few races. Now we go to some tracks that I know and I’m looking forward to it because it has been a tough run and I need to recover the form I was showing in the beginning of the season.”
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team manager Herve Poncharal felt that the crash was another learning experience for the rookie, and expects him to be stronger in the future as a result.
“He got a reasonable start and his lap times were very good in the first few laps but he crashed early and that is a big pity. This is Cal’s rookie year where he needs to be gaining lots of experience and learning a lot, so to crash so early is very disappointing because we lost a lot of points in the championship. But he also lost a lot of potential data that would have been very useful for next year. I would have liked him to finish the race and go into the summer break with a more positive feeling. Everybody is ready for a break after a very intense period of the Championship.”
