MotoGP Buriram: Crutchlow ‘in pain but pace is good’

WithU RNF Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow ended day one at Buriram with a bruising crash after his M1 collected him at speed.

Having spent the morning on the fringes of the top ten, just 0.039s shy, the Englishman continued to fine-tune his pace around the 4.5km layout as preparations for the Thai Grand Prix intensified into the afternoon.

The late-session time attacks in FP2 saw Crutchlow aiming for the top five as he dug deep in the closing stages before a turn three highside cut his progress short. The 36-year-old was collected by his rebounding M1 in the aftermath, sending him to the medical centre instead. His FP1 best - a 1’30.881 - sitting 12th in the combined times.

“Obviously today was not an ideal day, ending the day with an X-ray of my right ankle that I badly broke some years ago,” Crutchlow confirmed from Buriram. “I have some severe pain in my ankle but the X-ray came back negative - this can also be swelling on the ankle at the moment but it seems a little bit different from the place I broke it before, we have to continue and try to rest, ice the ankle and see how it is.

“I felt very good today on the bike,” he continued on his on-track progress. “In FP1 when we were pushing for the lap time I made one mistake in the lap which would have meant I would have been in the top ten and this afternoon I was going for the lap time, no doubt about it!

“I was pushing because I felt good with the bike, unfortunately I had too much angle, and that’s what happens when you ride a MotoGP bike and you’re pushing.

“Honestly speaking, I felt good and I feel that my pace is really good and I would be able to fight this weekend for a good position again. The problem is right now, we will have to see the extent of the injuries because