After a three-month absence from any kind of racing motorcycle following his nasty ankle injury at the Australian GP, LCR Honda CASTROL’s rider Cal Crutchlow returned to MotoGP action this week with the first pre-season tests in Malaysia. On the final day, Cal focused on testing parts for #HRC on the new factory RC213V motorcycle he will ride in the 2019 MotoGP World Championship. Despite missing out on an absolute fast lap when he had a small slide out on the softest tyre, he still posted the sixth fastest time of the day, and the test as a whole.
#35 Cal Crutchlow – 6th (1’58.780, lap 17 of 61)
“I’m happy at the end of the third day, not only with how the test has gone, but to be finished with it too! My ankle by the end was getting sore, hot, and swollen. I feel in good shape however, and the ankle feels good on the bike. It doesn’t bother me on there, it bothers me when I stop. I kept the length of the runs quite minimal today, because we didn’t need to go long – we were testing items rather than testing for race pace. I was really pleased with my pace all day. On the used tyres we were consistent and fast which is good. It’s good going into Qatar and especially after a three-month lay-off – to ride again and to be competitive with it”.
Results day 3 :
| 1 | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Mission Winnow Ducati | 1:58.239 |
| 2 | BAGNAIA, Francesco | Alma Pramac Racing | 1:58.302 |
| 3 | MILLER, Jack | Alma Pramac Racing | 1:58.366 |
| 4 | DOVIZIOSO, Andrea | Mission Winnow Ducati | 1:58.538 |
| 5 | VIÑALES, Maverick | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1:58.644 |
| 6 | CRUTCHLOW, Cal | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1:58.780 |
| 7 | ESPARGARO, Aleix | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1:59.022 |
| 8 | MORBIDELLI, Franco | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1:59.141 |
| 9 | NAKAGAMI, Takaaki | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1:59.148 |
| 10 | ROSSI, Valentino | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1:59.155 |
| 11 | MARQUEZ, Marc | Repsol Honda Team | 1:59.170 |
| 12 | RINS, Alex | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1:59.180 |
| 13 | BRADL, Stefan | Honda Test Team | 1:59.368 |
| 14 | RABAT, Tito | Reale Avintia Racing | 1:59.485 |
| 15 | MIR, Joan | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1:59.486 |
| 16 | QUARTARARO, Fabio | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1:59.497 |
| 17 | ZARCO, Johann | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:59.640 |
| 18 | ESPARGARO, Pol | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:59.751 |
| 19 | OLIVEIRA, Miguel | KTM Tech 3 Racing | 1:59.949 |
| 20 | ABRAHAM, Karel | Reale Avintia Racing | 2:00.378 |
| 21 | SYAHRIN, Hafizh | KTM Tech 3 Racing | 2:00.766 |
| 22 | GUINTOLI, Sylvain | Suzuki Test Team | 2:00.990 |
| 23 | SMITH, Bradley | Aprilia Racing Factory Team | 2:00.995 |
| 24 | KALLIO, Mika | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Test Team | 2:01.020 |
| 25 | TEST 2, Yamaha | Yamaha Test Team | 2:01.243 |
| 26 | TEST 1, Yamaha | Yamaha Test Team | 2:01.719 |
| NC | IANNONE, Andrea | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | |
| NC | TSUDA, Takuya | Suzuki Test Team |
Source: motogp.com, lcr.mc