The second evening of MotoGP action at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar saw two free practice sessions take place in tough conditions, following heavy rain during the day that left the desert track in a worse state than on the opening night.

Coupled with the strong winds that picked up throughout the evening, it was hard going for the LCR Honda Team and Cal Crutchlow, but in his own unique fashion the Brit was one of the few riders to improve his lap time. Setting the ninth fastest time of the weekend so far, he sealed passage straight through to Saturday’s qualifying shootout.

Crutchlow subsequently suffered a spill at the treacherous second corner, one of many to be caught out already this weekend. However, having thankfully emerged unscathed he will hope to seal a good grid position during qualifying, with his pace looking decent for Sunday night’s race. 


#35 Cal Crutchlow – 9th (1’55.211)

“The second session tonight saw really bad conditions, the wind was really bad and it was difficult for anyone to go faster, but I knew that I had to. I then crashed at the end of the session and I’m absolutely raging about it. Firstly, because I got baulked on my fast lap by riders trying to follow others, then it happened again on the lap before I crashed, which meant I had to roll off and my tyres cooled right down.”

“Apart from that I felt good and felt strong in the later session, we were actually sixth quickest in that practice alone, but we still have work to do. The Honda is difficult to ride at the moment, but we are knuckling down and I feel the team is doing a good job and I’m riding well.”

“I honestly don’t know what to expect from qualifying because it’s so difficult to go fast here. It seems that when we do more laps put together then we’re better than on a one-off lap.”