Crutchlow managing expectations ahead of Sepang
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow heads to this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix as a double Grand Prix winner after securing victory last weekend at Phillip Island, though is keeping his feet on the ground regarding potential further success at Sepang.
The British rider rode a stunning race last time out in Australia to become the first Briton to win multiple premier class races in a season since 1979. The result sees him sixth in the standings and 24 points clear of satellite rival Pol Espargaro with just two races left this season.
Despite winning in Australia, Crutchlow says that the team ‘need to manage’ their prospects for this weekend as he admits that the Sepang Circuit will yield more of a challenge for them. Nonetheless, he believes that he can end the season on a high and bring home strong results from Malaysia and the Valencia race in two weeks’ time.
The Briton has had something of a mixed record at Sepang in the past. He finished fifth last year after battling with compatriot and former teammate Bradley Smith, taking a sixth place two years earlier for Tech 3. He has also retired twice from the race, once in 2012 and the other during that barren season on the Ducati in 2014.
This year’s race will be run on a newly-surfaced, re-profiled circuit, and Crutchlow is the only permanent rider on the grid to have sampled it. However, the test was hampered by rain and problems with the track, which meant that neither he or the team were unable to gather any real data of the new surface.
“Obviously I’m really looking forward to this Grand Prix. We come off a very big high in Phillip Island but we need to manage our expectations because Sepang will be a lot more difficult. Perhaps it will even be the most difficult race of the year,” said Crutchlow.
“When we came here to test earlier in the year the track was in a really bad conditions with water coming through (the surface), and it seems as though they might have been able to fix it, but I don’t know. There were only three bikes going round and we were quite slow, way off the lap time of last year. We know from World Superbikes that their times were faster, so the grip will be good once it cleans up. We couldn’t really test so much, so we look forward to a good race weekend and hopefully it stays dry.
“Honestly speaking, I will give my 100 per cent for the LCR Honda Team as always. I still believe we can get a good result here and the last round in Valencia and finish the season strongly. This race is an important one for the fans here too, whenever we come to Malaysia we get great support. We’ll see how it all goes tomorrow when will start work on the setting, and then hope for a good race come Sunday.”