Cal Crutchlow is not only tough as nails and even when he’s bruised and battered for the second straight GP weekend, but his still is able to come through and qualify ahead of many more titled riders.
Maybe Yamaha should remember that when they are negotiating with Pol Espargaro for the 2014 season wanting to replace the Brit with Spaniard in Poncharal’s Tech3 squad.
Crutchlow lost rear traction going into the La Chapelle corner and his Yamaha M1 spit him off hard and left him lying on the side of the circuit holding his right side, causing the session to be briefly red flagged as the marshals assisted him.
The British rider was able to walk away and returned to the his garage very pale looking and with his nose bleeding.
A very brief medical check up declared him fit to continue and he returned to track to qualify a stunning fourth, missing a front row start by a mere 0.
006s.
Crutchlow crashed twice on Saturday the Jerez round that resulted in a small bleed in his left kidney however he then rode to fifth and tomorrow he still wants to ride, fracture or no fracture, despite one of the Clinica Mobile doctors warning that the fracture to the tibial plateau (shinbone) could affect the overall stability and motion of his knee and that he could swell up during the night which could cause extra problems.
“I can’t be disappointed to have qualified in fourth position after how the day went,” said Crutchlow.
“Unfortunately it was another difficult one for us and for sure the crash in free practice four didn’t make things easier.
We’ve struggling the whole weekend in a few areas and I still don’t feel completely confident with the setup of the bike, so we have some work to go through tonight.
I’m also feeling very sore after the crash and the medical staff diagnosed that I’ve got a small fracture of the right shin but that will not prevent me from giving 100% in tomorrow’s all-important home race for my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team!”Bradley Smith took his best qualifying result at Le Mans, taking a 9th place on the grid and the MotoGP rookie will be be in company of Valentino Rossi and Alvaro Bautista.
“I’m definitely happy to qualify on the third row today,” said Smith.
“We made some great improvements throughout the whole weekend getting consistently faster during each session.
Nevertheless I’m embittered about the gap to the fastest because it’s just over a second and my aim was to be a little bit closer, but probably I would need to worry if I’m completely satisfied after finishing ninth.
Anyway, I want to say a big thanks to my team because they prepared a fantastic bike for me that gave me more and more confidence with every single lap.
I’m really looking forward to putting on a good show in front of the French fans during tomorrow’s 28 laps lasting race.
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