Crutchlow: A podium will be difficult

Cal Crutchlow has said that it will be difficult for him to finish on the podium at his home Grand Prix tomorrow, after not one but two fast crashes today left the Coventry rider both injured and short on track time.

Crutchlow crashed early in free practice three, totalling his Tech 3 Yamaha after losing the front on a cold track. He then managed to make it out on his second bike only to crash again, leaving him with abrasions to his arm as well as swelling and stiffness. However, the local racer laughed it off as a typical Saturday for him at Silverstone, after a run of bad luck at his home Grand Prix over the years.

Describing his first crash, he said that the team had struggled to understand the cause, as they’ve had no problems all weekend with the tyres. “The track temperature was a lot colder than what we expected first thing. I completed one corner on my flying lap and never made the second. The telemetry says I crashed fast – 293kph (182mph), and as soon as I shut off the front, there wasn’t enough load on the front, and it just locked. I didn’t really see much after that apart from grass-kerb-tarmac-grass kerb!”

However, he conceded that there was no one to blame for his second crash but himself, as he first locked up the brakes and then made the bike throw him over the handlebars. “The second crash was completely my own fault – I locked the front going into the tight chicane, and as I released the brake the bike snapped and I hit my hand back on the brake lever and threw myself over the handlebars.”

Crutchlow admitted afterwards that it would be hard for him to run with the pace of the other podium favourites. “A podium would be difficult. It’ll be hard to beat Dani, because I’ve seen his pace here this weekend, it’ll be difficult to beat Bradl, because he’s suddenly decided he wants to step it up, and Vale and Bautista will be there as well.”

However, with the typical determination and grit he’s known for, Crutchlow refused to rule out anything, saying “I’ll still give it a go – you never know what’s going to happen.”

The Isle of Man resident also jokingly suggested that he should enter the Manx Grand Prix next year, in an attempt to move the jinx Silverstone seems to have him.

“My true home now is the Isle of Man, so I’ve decided to enter the Manx Grand Prix and scratch this off as my home GP! I don’t know if crashing here at Silverstone would be any safer any more!”