LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow admitted he was very surprised at how quickly the Circuit of the Americas dried after seeing FP3 cancelled due to storms on Saturday morning.

The Brit managed to use the limited track time available to him to good use, securing his first front row start since Assen 2018, with a third position in Austin, behind Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi.

Despite lightning storms and heavy rain, the qualifying session was run in dry conditions and the Honda man admitted he was surprised at just how quickly the circuit dried up.

“It was a very strange today, sitting around all morning waiting, I felt tired to be honest,” said Crutchlow.

“I didn’t wake up very well, I just wanted to go to sleep all morning, I would’ve preferred to gone out to get the adrenaline going, but we just had to sit around and wait.

“What was strange was how fast the track dried. There was so much rain earlier, then by qualifying it was basically dry apart from one or two patches on the whole track.

“It’s great to be on the front row, great for my team and great for Honda. It was a strange session, because I didn’t feel fantastic with the bike, I made some mistakes but was still able to get the job done of being on the front row.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the front row; all tomorrow we need is to not jump the start.”

With less track time than a usual weekend, Crutchlow has had more time to nurse his still recovering ankle. Whilst not hampering him whilst riding, he did admit that tomorrow’s 20-lap race could cause some discomfort.

“My ankle is not fantastic in some of the corners, but it is what it is. I’m not complaining about it to my team or anything like that,” he said.

“I don’t feel very, very good with the rear brake lever in some of the corners, but that’s been at every circuit I’ve rode so far this year.

“But overall my general feeling on the bike is good. I think it’ll be an entertaining race, I think it’ll be good fun and we can get away with the other guys and see what happens.”