Cal Crutchlow suffered a very disappointing qualifying day for the Japanese Grand Prix at the Twin Ring on Saturday. The LCR Honda rider was forced to settle for 15th on the grid for the first of three successive flyaway races after another rain-soaked day at the Japanese circuit.
Having proved competitive on Friday, Crutchlow was unable to make further progress and - after ending down in 15th in FP3 - failed to secure a place Q2 after finishing fifth in Q1, just behind Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales.
The LCR rider expressed his frustration afterwards having once again this season failed to find a good rhythm in wet conditions.
โI'm not happy at all, I'm really unhappy with the grid position,โ he said. โI'm disappointed that I don't have a good feeling with the bike in the rain at the moment. In the previous years I have ridden in MotoGP, I've been strong in the rain, but at the moment we are struggling so we must work hard on this aspect.โ
โIt seems we need to improve the package for me to be competitive in the rain. We will have to see what happens tomorrow, it's going to be a long race and we'll have to look through the data tonight to try to improve altogether.โ
