by Mark Appleton
Cal Crutchlow and the whole Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team continued with their impressive Qualifying and Practice sessions in Catalunya.
The British rider briefly led the timesheets with just over ten minutes left on the clock when he posted a time of 1.41.922.
He was bumped off the top spot as lap times continued to fall and, with just over two minutes remaining of the session, Crutchlow produced a stunning lap to secure third on the grid.
“I am really happy to be back on the front row again and it feels great considering this is only the second time I have been to this track,” he said. “I expected to be up there challenging but wasn’t sure where and my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew did another fantastic job with the bike today.
“It will be a really tough race if the conditions are the same with the temperature so hot but I am ready for it. This morning I only used an old soft rear tyre and I was still really fast, so I knew when I put in a new soft rear this afternoon that I could be much quicker.
“I got in a good lap even though I’m not completely comfortable with the set-up and I will definitely run the hard front and soft rear for the race. The hard doesn’t give a big advantage over race distance. Today is a great result and hopefully I can do the same job tomorrow when it really counts.”
Crutchlow’s team mate Andrea Dovizioso also continued his recent good form posting some good times early on but slowly fell down the timesheet as the times tumbled around him.
The former 125cc World Champion is optimistic that he will be able to battle for the podium when the green light goes for the 25-lap race.
“I am really satisfied with the work we have done this weekend but I can’t deny it would have been nice to be on the front row again,” said Dovizioso. “Being sixth on the grid is not bad and the most pleasing aspect for me is that my race pace is very fast and consistent.
“The second half of the race is going to be really important if the conditions are as hot as today and tyre c hoice is going to critical. It seems the Yamaha can’t use the hard rear tyre as well as the soft, but Lorenzo can’t use the soft, so this is a little bit confusing.
“I will sit down with my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew to carefully consider what the strategy will be with the tyres. I have always been strong at this track and after today’s performance I am expecting a good race.”
