As the LCR Honda Team arrived at the Philip Island circuit for the second day of pre-season testing session in Australia, more dark clouds and light drizzle meant there was a very real possibility that the day was going to be a washout like the first. Thankfully, later in the afternoon the clouds cleared and the track dried, allowing Cal Crutchlow to make some valuable laps of the high-speed clifftop track.

The fast and flowing layout has always provided a challenge for tyre manufacturers, and with new suppliers Michelin making their first test down under, Crutchlow and the rest of the MotoGP field were able to work through a variety of options today in the dry to provide valuable feedback for the season ahead.

Crutchlow spent the day mainly working on improving the chassis set-up of his RC213V, as well as honing the new electronics package further. Late in the day there was a flurry of fast laps, with the Brit setting his own best to end the day an impressive fifth fastest with a 1’29.671.

Friday sees the final day of testing at Phillip Island, before the MotoGP field move on to the last pre-season session in Qatar. 

#35 Cal Crutchlow – 5th (1’29.671)

“It was a bit of a difficult day as laps were limited again, but the team did a good job in the end because we had to manage the situation and get as much done as possible. I tried a few things to ensure that we were doing ‘average’ laps, knowing that we could be fast when we needed to be. This was good because we never pushed so hard.”

“We’ll have to investigate a lot of the things we’ve found out today, and I’m sure tomorrow too, because when we leave the Phillip Island test it’s all going to be important information for Qatar - where we have the next test and the first race.”

“We need to look at things quite closely at the moment because electronically we are still really struggling to find the best balance with the bike. We were, however, using the 2015 engine today, so maybe in Qatar things will be a little bit better for us anyway when we should be using a more updated version.”