Misano MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow thwarted by qualifying crashes

Cal Crutchlow suffered two late crashes in today’s MotoGP qualifying session at the Misano circuit that cost him the chance of a top 10 place on the grid for the 28-lap race.

Crutchlow was sitting in eighth position on the timesheets when he went down at Turn 3 on a soft rear Bridgestone tyre that hadn’t reached optimum working temperature. The 25-year-old made it back to the pits to take out his spare Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine but pushing on his final lap he lost the front.

The double mistake left the 2009 World Supersport champion down in 13th place on the grid with a best time of 1.34.791 and he said: “The crashes were stupid on my part and both were my fault, but I was pushing and I can’t be blamed for trying too hard. The position on the timesheets looks like it was a bad session and it could definitely have ended a lot better without the two crashes. But this morning I was a second faster than yesterday and felt really comfortable on the bike after we made some overnight changes that improved the front.

“I think I was eighth on the timesheets when I had the first crash, so I know I could have been in the top 10 on the grid. The first crash was at Turn 3. I’d just gone out on my first soft rear and there wasn’t enough heat in it, so it high-sided me and then turned into a low-side. It wasn’t a big problem and we put a new soft rear tyre in the spare bike. But the only front I had left was 25-laps old. I was on for a really good lap and the front pushed because it had close to race distance on it and I crashed again. That’s pretty annoying but they were both my mistakes and I hold my hands up for that. I’m still positive that I could have been much higher up on the grid and I am confident I can be inside the top 10 tomorrow.”

For full coverage of the Misano MotoGP race, see the September 7 issue of Motor Cycle News.