Cal Crutchlow brushes off late crash

Cal Crutchlow shrugged off a late high-speed crash on the second day of MotoGP testing in Malaysia today to finish with the 15th quickest time.

Crutchlow had posted a best time of 2.03.032 earlier in the day when he crashed out at the fast turn six with 35 minutes of the session remaining.

The former World Supersport champion suffered a small puncture wound in his right hand but was relatively unscathed after the high-speed third gear fall.

Crutchlow was fortunate not to aggravate the left shoulder he is recovering from after major winter surgery seven weeks ago but he was still able to lap faster than Loris Capirossi, Karel Abraham and Toni Elias.

Speaking to MCN in the Sepang paddock tonight, Crutchlow said: “I lost the front because it got really greasy at that point at the end of the day. The track temperature was still 48 degrees at 5:30pm and it got a bit tricky in that part.

“For me the front of the bike is still a bit too high. Going in on the brakes it is fine but when I’m halfway round the corner with no brake, the front is too high and with no weight on the front there’s no grip. It is definitely not too low because I’m running wide on the throttle.

“It was still a good day today and I’ve been looking at a lot of data, checking out what Colin, Jorge and Ben are doing. I’m not a million miles away but it is just a lack of experience and I’m learning all the time.

“I’m confident I can go faster. I just need to be a bit more comfortable with the bike and I’ve got time to work on a few things. These boys are the fastest in the world and bloody hell they are fast. It is unbelievable how quick they are but I’m confident I can make big improvements.

“I spoke to Valentino yesterday and he’s been coming here three times a year for nine years and I’ve done about 90 laps. So the experience factor is a really big thing.”