The LCR Honda Team and their British rider Cal Crutchlow made a solid start to practice at the French Grand Prix, setting the 12th fastest time overall after the first two sessions. Despite a strange spill at the final corner in the afternoon session, Crutchlow still went on to reduce his morning best by nearly three-quarters of a second, less than a tenth outside the top-ten positions that would see him go straight through to Saturday’s qualifying final. The Isle of Man-based rider is confident that there is more to come tomorrow, having run out of time to improve his lap significantly, and will be aiming to avoid the preliminary qualifying session by getting into the top ten in the third free practice.

Cal Crutchlow:
“I was quite pleasantly surprised by today, I honestly felt really good on the bike. Yes, I made a mistake into the final corner when the bike snapped and I actually tried to go straight on. As it snapped, however, my hand was still on the brake lever and when the rear wheel came back into line, it made my hand pull on the lever and I crashed. I went back out quickly, but because we had a very slight technical problem, I only managed to get one more fast lap in. I really felt good then however, and I set my fastest lap immediately, so I’m confident because the new softer tyre I was out on appeared to be working quite well. I only got one lap on it, and the heat wasn’t quite in it yet, whilst other riders were setting their best times on their fifth lap on the tyre. So it’s positive for tomorrow.”

 

Results FP2:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source: motogp.com, lcr.mc