Cal Crutchlow - Photo Credit: Tech 3
Cal Crutchlow feels he has been left at a disadvantage by the power failure which cancelled the second free practice session at Aragon. The Briton is racing at the circuit for the first time and finished the morning in 14th after choosing to run the entire session on a single set of soft tyres.
Crutchlow feels there is time to be found from running the harder tyre and was disappointed to miss out on that opportunity in FP2.
“I was really happy this morning because it was a good solid start and I really enjoyed riding the track. It was a pity I couldn’t have lapped a little bit faster but I stayed on the soft front and rear tyres for the whole session. Most of the other guys used the harder tyres and when Colin changed he dropped his time by a second. I’m sure I could have done the same and then I’d be looking at being inside the top 10, which is always my goal.”
“It is obviously disappointing not to have the second session because it hurts me more than the other guys. I need to be out there learning the track and you lose the momentum gained. I felt really confident at the end of this morning and was looking forward to this afternoon, but now I’ve got to build up my pace all over again. There’s nothing I can do about what happened and I’m confident with more time on track I can climb further up the timesheets.”
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 teammate Colin Edwards was much more content after the opening day's running, feeling comfortable with the Yamaha YZR-M1 in first practice. The American admitted to having a few issues with rear grip early on but feels the problem should disappear with a change of set-up.
“That was a pretty easy day and to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever been in and out of my leathers so many times in one day. This morning I felt pretty good and comfortable, which was immediately a good sign because I didn’t have a very good feeling with this track last year. We struggled for rear grip last year and I rode a soft front tyre in the race to try and find something that worked. But this morning I was happy right from the start on the hard front and rear and we know we can make the set-up better. We had a few ideas to help this afternoon but obviously there were some electricity issues and that’s a pity for the fans that came out to watch us today. It was the right decision so we’ll use the extra rest and come out strong tomorrow aiming to improve our pace.”
