LCR Honda MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow labeled Saturday in Austria as “one of the hardest days” the Brit has had, after qualifying in down in ninth place at the Red Bull Ring.

The Brit had to navigate Q1 in order to progress into the pole position shoot out in Q2, however, the Honda man struggled for pace in the second qualifying session, leaving him to start down in ninth place, with a time 0.727 seconds off Marc Marquez’ pole position time.

“I was ninth for a reason, I’ve not felt good all weekend and today was probably one of the hardest days I’ve had in my career on a motorbike,” said the 33-year-old.

“With changes, with different bikes and not feeling great. But we still managed to do a good enough lap time to be in the top ten, but that’s not where we want to be – we want to be faster.”

Despite the challenging Saturday, Crutchlow said that he is optimistic that he can have a stronger Sunday, even if he thinks that the bike will come to him in the middle of the race.

“I am optimistic for our race pace though,” he said. “The way our bike is set up this weekend, I think I’ll feel more comfortable in the middle of the race, not the start.

“We’ve had some issues with the brakes this weekend, which is not great heading into the race, but we’ll see how we go tomorrow.”

Crutchlow was also asked about Marquez and just how the Spaniard can get the RC213V to work for him, with all other Honda riders struggling. When asked, Crutchlow said: “Marc’s got a trick everywhere, he’s like fucking Houdini. He just vanishes in thin air. You see him one minute and he’s gone the next.

“It’s not like he has a trick in one sector, I think he has a trick in all the sectors. He’s riding amazing, it’s as simple as that. And you can’t, even as a rider, you can’t give this guy enough credit for what he’s doing, with the bike that he has, is something very, very special.”