Crutchlow fall puts Laverty within touching distance
Added on Monday, September 28th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Crutchlow fall puts Laverty within touching distance
Cal Crutchlow as his lead in the World Supersport championship cut to just two points after seeing his title charge halted by an engine blow-out for Joan Lascorz and a gearbox problem on his Yamaha R6.
Just moments after taking second place from Kenan Sofuoğlu at the race’s mid-point to begin his chase on Lascorz, the Spaniard’s Kawasaki engine blew out, spewing oil across the circuit and on the front of Crutchlow’s bike, forcing the suspension of the race in Imola.
After the restart, Crutchlow once again managed to take the lead from Sofuoğlu and Eugene Laverty, who was some distance behind prior to the race suspension, before crashing out on a fast right hander in the closing stages due to what was later described as a false neutral.
“I’m really disappointed, we’ve lost 50 points over the year for two DNFs,” said the 23-year-old. “It’s nobody’s fault, I hit a false neutral and went in way too fast and just couldn’t stop. I couldn’t get it round the corner and crashed. We still have a small lead though so we’ll take it to Magny Cours and give it everything we’ve got.”
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager, also refused to hit the panic button, adding: “Cal found four false neutrals after the restart so we need to check exactly what happened. Normally it can be ridden round but if you’re in the wrong place and can’t shift back then you run in too hot and are going to crash which is what happened. The championship is open again, he’s leading by two points so he really has to fight for it at Magny Cours and Portimao.
“A disappointing result for us today but we haven’t lost yet, well put our heads together this week before Magny Cours, Cal is still fast so we will work it out.”
