Cal Crutchlow has revealed his race was lost from the start because he didn’t qualify on the front row and subsequently got held up by the Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa.
The Brit started today’s MotoGP race at Aragon from the second row in fifth place, and says he knew that not being on the front was going to cost him.
“I knew what was going to happen if I didn’t qualify on the front row. I didn’t get away with them and then I got stuck behind Dani,” he said.
“I didn’t get a great start and then I thought ‘ok, now I can cut back and around turn two maybe go around the outside’.
“Dani was really hesitant so he was picking the bike up but I was on the outside and then I lost some positions. I tried my best to battle back but our bike’s just got no acceleration and no speed and it took me a long time to get past the other guys.
“When I was behind Dani I thought I could’ve been doing around 49.0 those, those sort of lap times for five laps but I just could not pass him because of the acceleration, simple as that.
“I passed him three times, but three times I blew the corner and he passed me back, and then you start again. I think it was clear to see I just didn’t have the acceleration from turn 15 or the top speed.”
The LCR Honda man said he knew his chances of getting within spitting distance of the podium had gone after those all-important first few laps, and decided to just concentrate on as good a result as possible
“Once you lose the front guys you’re not gaining it back, I can tell you that. I aimed for the front row yesterday and I thought that was our chance to be on the podium or to get away with the other guys and go with them.
“I didn’t get away with the other guys and we weren’t on the podium but I made sure I finished, I kept overheating the front tyre when I was behind Dani and Aleix and Dovi at the start and I had to back off a little bit to get it to cool down as soon as I passed them all it felt fantastic.
“We went with the asymmetric, it worked in one area but I have to say I don’t think it was the right choice today. I really don’t.
“It wasn’t a bad race, a top five is not easy to come by in MotoGP, we’re happy enough but I wanted a little bit more.”
