Cal Crutchlow was one of the standout riders at the start of Sunday’s MotoGP race in Motegi, but not for the best reasons, but rather due to a decision that ultimately proved to be… wrong. The British rider, who was a wildcard, admitted his mistake in staying out on track when almost everyone else headed to the pits to change to rain-specific tires.
‘Well, obviously it was the wrong decision… we were very late. Well, I should have come in immediately and we would have been in a better position because my pace in the rain was actually very good. Stopping the race was the best decision,’ began the Yamaha test rider who raced with the colors of the Yamalube RS4GP Racing Team.
The 13th place finisher in the race continued his analysis and explained that he had a good pace at the time the race was interrupted: ‘When they showed the red flag, I had even overtaken the two riders ahead of me but then due to the red flag, a lap was “removed” [in terms of positions from the moment the flag was shown]. Anyway, we got more data, learned some things but yes, I made a mistake by not entering the pit to change bikes immediately.’
He also explained how he initially managed to stay on track and how he did not expect the rain to be so heavy after all: ‘The lap when everyone came in, because I didn’t think it was raining that much and what I did was reduce the power on the bike and completely activate the traction control so I still had some grip to manage the situation in case it stopped raining or continued to rain the same.’
And he concluded: ‘It was the right decision… with water getting into the helmet, which is normal for everyone, visibility was really bad and on the straight with the water from others in front, it was too much.’
