Cal Crutchlow put in another brave display in qualifying and will start tomorrow’s Gran Premi Monster Energy De Catalunya from the sixth row of the grid. The LCR Honda CASTROL man again rode through the pain barrier as he defied arm and ankle injuries to claim 16th position on the grid after failing to progress from an ultra-competitive Q1 session.
Sitting 12th overnight, Crutchlow was unable to secure automatic progress to Q2 as he finished 16th in FP3 – although he was only three tenths behind Danilo Petrucci in fourth. The Briton showed good race pace as he was 12th fastest in FP4 and then led Q1 in the early stages. But with a host of big names competing for the top two spots, Crutchlow eventually had to settle for sixth and a spot on the sixth row for Sunday’s race.
Cal Crutchlow – 16th (1’39.988)
“Today I felt quite positive with the bike, I was able to push in a good way. Overall I still have some problems and pain in my arm, so we’re trying to manage that as best as possible. I was disappointed I wasn’t able to go through to Q2 because I think I should have been able to, but I got held up in my lap. Also the same thing happened on my qualifying lap (in FP3) as a rider pulled in front of me in the last sector and wasted my lap and also my next lap as they made a mistake in turn one and pulled back in front of me again! But this is the situation, I qualified 16th today but I’m quite positive about our race pace tomorrow and think we can have a good race and improve our position.”
Q1 & Q2 combined:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
| 1 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’38.798 |
| 2 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’39.008 |
| 3 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’39.129 |
| 4 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’39.225 |
| 5 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’39.371 |
| 6 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’39.378 |
| 7 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’39.495 |
| 8 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’39.628 |
| 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’39.641 |
| 10 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’39.659 |
| 11 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’39.713 |
| 12 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’40.188 |
| 13 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’39.751 |
| 14 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’39.777 |
| 15 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’39.973 |
| 16 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’39.988 |
| 17 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’40.109 |
| 18 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’40.164 |
| 19 | Iker LECUONA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’40.490 |
| 20 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’40.721 |
| 21 | Bradley SMITH | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’40.838 |
| 22 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’41.013 |
Source: motogp.com, lcr.mc