Crutchlow not downbeat after Jerez crash
Added on Tuesday, April 5th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Crutchlow not downbeat after Jerez crash
Cal Crutchlow was in an upbeat mood despite crashing out of a potential podium in Jerez, claiming that he had “nothing to lose” as he tried to chase down Ducati’s Nicky Hayden.
The British rider, in only his second race in MotoGP and on his first outing on the Yamaha M1 in wet conditions, was looking comfortable in fifth position in the closing stages of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, closing the gap on fourth place Nicky Hayden.
But disaster struck for the Coventry rider on lap 20 as he ended up in the gravel at turn nine, although he did manage to rescue a respectable eighth position.
But rather than be downbeat, Crutchlow was adamant that he had no regrets about pushing for a podium finish, claiming that the result demonstrated the improvement that he has made in such a short space of time in MotoGP.
“I never thought I’d crash in MotoGP and still get a top ten 10,” claimed the former WSB race winner. “That was an unbelievable race and not one of the easiest I’ve had in my career.
“The conditions were so unpredictable that it was hard to get any grip and I was having lots of moments with the front and rear tyre, but so was everybody else. I could see people were making mistakes but I just tried to keep my head.
“When I got into fifth I felt pretty comfortable though I wanted it to rain again because the tyres were wearing pretty fast. I was gaining on Nicky really quick and he was in fourth, so there’s no doubt the way I was catching him that I was thinking about a podium. I’ve nothing to lose so I was pushing and I went down at turn nine. I actually lost the rear but then pushed the front and I was down.
“I’m not going to be too hard on myself crashing when I was battling for a podium in MotoGP. I’m happy because before this morning I’d never tried the bike in the rain, so to be where I was is a good sign. I was in the top ten in the wet and dry on a track I’d never seen before Thursday, so I’m making good progress.”
