LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow has given the new surface at Silverstone the seal of approval after getting the chance to take to the track on Monday for a media event. Lapping the home of the British Grand Prix on a Honda RC213V-S (the road-going version of his MotoGP machine) and with customer Michelin racing slicks fitted, he says that it’ll make a huge improvement come August’s race.
“They’ve done a great job and I’m not just saying that because I’m at Silverstone and because I’m a British rider, because they’ve done a really good job of it. We’re hard to please as riders and we always want the track in the best possible shape, and they’ve done that. There were a few places with a few bumps, but they’ve taken it back up and re-laid it there, and you can’t even tell.
“There were a lot of surface changes before and now it’s one piece of asphalt, and I was impressed with that. First and foremost, to lay it in the middle of winter was impressive too, and I’m looking forward to a good British Grand Prix on it. When there’s some rubber down on it and if we get the weather, it’ll be a second and a half faster, which is a big amount on a MotoGP bike.”
The Silverstone team completed a full-track resurfacing especially for MotoGP over the winter months. Spending seven figures on the project, they’ve been keen to stress since that it comes as part of a longer-term commitment to keeping MotoGP at the track.