Crutchlow: "It's incredible that Quartararo led the World Championship with this bike"

Sepang.- The Frenchman lost the leadership of the world championship last Sunday in Australia when he suffered a fall and was overtaken by the Italian Pecco Bagnaia at the head of the general classification, which has left the Ducati rider in a frank situation to proclaim himself champion, with a first match ball this weekend.

Although there are those who do not rule out a last-minute reaction from Quartararo, like Marc Márquez himself, the truth is that seeing the inaction of Yamaha and the lack of performance of the M1, thinking about it seems suicidal.

“Fabio will not give up, that’s for sure,” says his partner Cal Crutchlow.

“I talk to him as a friend, but also, in a way, because I work for him. It’s a difficult time, and you have to keep in mind that he’s riding above the possibilities of the Yamaha,” warns the Briton.

“He can’t do more than what he does. Yes, he made a mistake last week, but we haven’t seen him make many throughout the year. It’s incredible that he led the World Championship with this bike. Fabio knows how to ride here and I think that he will do it well. What we need is that the others do not do it, “was the analysis.

Crutchlow returned to the paddock two years after his retirement and being the test rider for Yamaha, which has not prevented him from performing better than Andrea Dovizioso was doing, although he admits that the bike is not for much joy.

“The Yamaha is now much more difficult to ride than before. Let’s just say it’s more aggressive. Before, the Yamaha was the bike that all the riders wanted. How many rookies got on the podium with it, or even with a satellite? If you look back, normally there was a Honda, the same, but there were many Yamahas on the podium. Now the opposite is happening: anyone can get on the podium with the Ducati in their first year in MotoGP”, explained Cal. 

“And I think that happens because of a combination of things. Basically, aerodynamics and height devices make driving difficult,” was the diagnosis.

“In Sepang, our main problem is acceleration. We drifted a lot, and that didn’t used to be a problem for us. And obviously the lack of speed here is very noticeable. Fabio has to get in front and go, but that doesn’t It is easy”.