Cal Crutchlow boosted by last day progress

After a nightmare start to this week’s second Sepang test in Malaysia, Cal Crutchlow enjoyed a much more positive ending to finish in 14th place on the final timesheets.

Struck by food poisoning on arrival in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday, Crutchlow then suffered two identical crashes at Turn 9 on the opening day to dent his confidence with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1.

Numerous set-up changes on day two failed to improve Crutchlow’s pace but he bounced back in impressive fashion today to clock a best lap of 2.02.034.

That left him just over 0.5s away from factory Ducati rider Valentino Rossi and he managed to outpace fellow rookie Karel Abraham, experienced Frenchman Randy de Puniet and reigning Moto2 world champion Toni Elias.

The former World Supersport champion told MCN: “It has certainly been an eventful week and the good thing is that it ended in positive fashion. The food poisoning I picked up on the way to Sepang didn’t help my preparations and I’ve felt weak all through the test as a result.

“Two crashes on the first day didn’t help my confidence and day two was a struggle to be honest. We made a lot of changes to the bike without helping me feel more comfortable. We’ve made a lot of progress and I am doing consistent 2.02s, which is obviously not too bad.

“I did my fastest time at 1pm when it is the hottest part of the day but I kept my consistency and with 23 laps on the tyre we are still in the 2.02s. The consistency just wasn’t there at all on the second and my lap times were really up and down.

“If I was doing a 2.04 it was hard work, but now mid-2.02s don’t feel too bad. Colin (Edwards) said to me for a superbike guy to come here and do under a 2.03 in the first year, whether it be at a test or a race, is doing well. The competition is so strong but all I can do is try and improve.”