Following their stunning victory in Sunday’s Michelin® Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, the LCR Honda Team have already made the trip to Malaysia for the penultimate round of the MotoGP World Championship which will see Cal Crutchlow’s RC213V branded with Castrol colours.

With a fifth place in Japan and a second triumph of the season at Phillip Island, the Isle of Man rider is undoubtedly the form man in the series, having picked up 100 points in the last six races, more than any other rider.

The Sepang International Circuit is a familiar venue for all the riders, as it regularly hosts pre-season tests. It is widely accepted as the toughest place in the world to race motorcycles due to the tropical conditions, however this time there is an added challenge to the stifling heat and humidity after the track was resurfaced earlier this year, and some corners were reprofiled.

Crutchlow is one of the few riders to have actually ridden the new asphalt, back at a Honda and Michelin test in July, although testing time was limited due to rain and a damp surface so there is negligible advantage to be gained.

Practice for the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix starts on Friday morning at 9.55am local time (3.55am GMT), with the 20-lap MotoGP race starting on Sunday at 3pm (8am GMT).


#35 Cal Crutchlow

“Obviously I’m really looking forward to this grand prix, we come here off a very big high in Phillip Island but we need to manage our expectations because Sepang will be a lot more difficult. Perhaps it will even be the most difficult race of the year.”

“When we came here to test earlier in the year the track was in really bad condition with water coming through, and it seems as though they might have been able to fix it, but I don’t know. There were only three bikes going round and we were quite slow, way off the lap times of last year. We know from World Superbike that their times were faster, so the grip will be good once it cleans up. We couldn’t really test so much, so we look forward to a good race weekend and hopefully it stays dry.”

“Honestly speaking I will give my 100 per cent for the LCR Honda Team as always. I still believe we can get a good result here and the the last round in Valencia and finish the season strongly.”

“This race an important one for the fans here too, whenever we come to Malaysia we get great support. We’ll see how it all goes tomorrow when we will start work on the setting, and then hope for a good race day come Sunday.”