Crutchlow "excited" ahead of Le Mans

Cal Crutchlow won’t race with the new swingarm that he tested at Jerez but the LCR Honda rider is “excited” about his chances this weekend at the circuit where he had his best ever result in MotoGP, second in 2013.

“If it carries on raining, maybe another 2nd!,” joked Crutchlow when asked about his expectations for this weekend. “I’m excited for the weekend, I think it’s a good weekend, it’s a good track for Honda. If you look what Marc did last year and also Bautista, but this race is a close race, there’s so many people on the same lap time or a similar lap time. You see there was eight guys quite close at the start of the race here last year. So I expect it to be a big battle. But also, I expect some guys that haven’t been up there in previous races to be competitive here.”

Le Mans should be incredibly competitive this weekend with the circuit having seen plenty of Honda and Yamaha wins over the years. This year the Ducati’s have been fast at all types of tracks so there’s little reason to expect Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone to take a backseat this weekend. For Crutchlow he expects that it will be very close at the front of the field.

“I expect all six factory guys, but I expect another four satellite guys to be able to be competitive. But I also expect a wildcard, somebody you don’t think is ever going to be there, will make a good race in Le Mans. It’s just one of those circuits, where if you take some risks, if you get away with the group you can stay there. I think it’s going to be close this weekend.”