Cal Crutchlow admits he is finding life difficult in his first Grand Prix weekend with the factory Ducati team. The Briton crashed in FP3 on his way to twelfth place which forces him to take part in Q1 tomorrow but he remains confident that, together with the team, he will conquer his issues.
“It was a disappointing day and I’m not very happy at all. We didn’t find a good setting with the bike, and even though we made a lot of changes from the first session, it felt more or less the same. I also had a crash in the third session, but the positive thing is that we got up and went a little bit faster with the second bike. Unfortunately now we have to take part in Q1 tomorrow, and that’s unfamiliar territory for me because I’ve been used to qualifying close to the front for the last two years. Things are difficult at the moment, but there’s no doubt the team are working hard to sort things out.”
In contrast, teammate Andrea Dovizioso is having a fine weekend and after going fourth in final practice, the Italian is confident heading into qualifying.
“It’s always a great feeling to find yourself up near the front! Today I’m happy because I didn’t expect to improve so much with our hard tyre, which in my opinion is the one everyone will use in the race. I was quick, and even though a lot of riders are all within three-tenths of each other, this was one of our main aims. Then when we put the soft tyre on, I managed to do a good lap. In the first three sessions we’ve worked really well, but we must improve our race pace.”