Big progress for Crutchlow and Tech3 at Estoril test

Less than 24 hours after claiming a brilliant double top 10 finish in the Portuguese MotoGP round, Cal Crutchlow and Colin Edwards were back in action to complete a hugely productive test session at the Estoril circuit today.

With seven hours of track time available and conditions ideal with no sign of forecast rain emerging, Crutchlow and Edwards dedicated the majority of the day on improving the set-up they used during Sunday’s 28-lap race.

Changing handlebar position and modifying the wheelbase of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine helped Crutchlow produce the performance of the test, the British rider shaving almost two seconds off his best time set when he finished in eighth position in the Portuguese Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old took full advantage of the revised set-up to log a best time of 1.36.850, which secured him a fantastic fourth place on the final timesheets. Only Marco Simoncelli, Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner were able to lap faster than Crutchlow, who completed 71-laps.

Crutchlow and Edwards were also able to give Bridgestone vital feedback and information on two new specification rear tyres designed for the new 1000cc MotoGP class in 2012. Both declared themselves impressed with the improved feedback and edge grip and both set their fastest times of the test on the 2012 tyres.

Cal Crutchlow 4th 1.36.850 – 71 laps
“Today was really positive and I can’t really ask for much more than finishing fourth quickest with only three of the fastest riders in the world in front of me. I was able to lap nearly two seconds faster than I did in the race but I was quietly confident that the changes we planned to make for today would mean I could go a lot faster. Losing so much track time because of the weather at the weekend meant I couldn’t risk taking a gamble on making too many changes for the race. I honestly didn’t expect to break into the 36s but I felt comfortable and even with 25-laps on the same set of tyres I was doing low to mid-37s. I know everyone goes faster in a test but my time today was faster than Dani Pedrosa’s best lap in the race and he won, so my pace bodes well for the future. We moved the handlebars and lengthened the wheelbase and I just felt much more comfortable. The bike was a lot easier to ride and much less aggressive and I was fast throughout the whole day. If I’d had this set-up for the race I’m sure I could have had a battle with Colin, and he was sixth, so that’s really encouraging. I can’t wait for Le Mans now. It is the home race for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and today’s result has given me a lot of confidence that I can be competitive again on another track I have to learn from scratch.”

Source: Team Tech3

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Posted by SV on 9:28 pm. Filed under Cal Crutchlow, MotoGP, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry