Britain’s Cal Crutchlow believes his MotoGP performances are now the opposite of where they were when he first started and he now starts slowly and builds up pace.

Comparing himself to a diesel engine, Crutchlow says he is now missing the early liveliness he had as a youngster and at the age of 34, he doesn’t want to ride around at the back of the field just collecting a cheque without being competitive.

“I’ve been riding motorcycle races for almost 20 years now. At some point, everything is slower. I see that in my qualifying laps. I am now the opposite of what I have been, said Crutchlow.

I used to be extremely fast in qualifying, but not quite at this level in the race. Now the opposite is the case. I now feel like a diesel engine, I burn energy more slowly, I always have to warm up first.”

Crutchlow isn’t about to fade into the background, though, as he wants to make 2020 his best-ever season in the class before he retires.

“I have no intention of simply riding slowly in circles in my possibly last season. I am convinced that I could go on for three or four more years if I wanted to. But I don’t want to ride around at the back for two years and just collect my fee.

“I want to ride in the front. I had a lot of fun and joy in MotoGP. Maybe I haven’t achieved all of my goals but I’ve always done my best. I would step back in a state of complete happiness because I can look back on a decent career. I enjoyed it. That’s actually the reason why we do this job.”

Crutchlow was talking to our colleagues at Speedweek.com