Crutchlow Scores for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team in Japan

25-09-2022

Crutchlow Scores for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team in Japan

Cal Crutchlow crossed the line in P15, while Darryn Binder unfortunately crashed out in Motegi.

The Japan Grand Prix, round 16 of the MotoGP World Championship 2022 saw plenty of action from Friday until Sunday afternoon. Following only one dry practice session and a rainy Saturday that was cut short, riders and teams had to go into the race today in sunny and warm conditions, which saw some surprises.

Cal Crutchlow, who is doing just his second race weekend this year with the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team showed a strong performance. The Englishman started from P23 on the grid and made up two positions in the first lap of the race. He moved up several more spots in the first half of the race, but was really on the gas when the second half started, where he was nearly in podium pace and therewith climbed up further in the standings to eventually cross the line in P15, collecting one World Championship point.

On the other hand, Darryn Binder delivered one of his incredible starts once again, shooting forward from P24 on the grid to 17th position at the end of the first lap. He managed to keep this place for several laps, but later on dropped a bit. Halfway through the 24 laps race, he was in P18 and tried to hold on to his teammate in front of him. Unluckily, he lost the front in lap 14, tried to rejoin the race, but had to eventually give up and return to the garage.

In less than one week, Crutchlow and Binder will have another chance to score points when the championship moves over to Buriram, Thailand for the 17th round of the 2022 season.

Cal Crutchlow

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team

"Honestly, the mistake made is I forgot to press the launch control devices so I started really badly. As you know with the Yamaha, the straight line speed is not amazing with the acceleration, so I was just being patient with the whole race. I came from a long way back to the position that I am in. I'm happy with the race that I did, I couldn't have done anymore. My pace in the middle of the race was really good and I'm pleased with that. I think I would have been in the top 10 today easily with the pace that I had if i started in a good way and also if I qualified in a good way. So, I'm disappointed with that, but I can be proud with the way I rode today."

Darryn Binder

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team

"Today was a disappointing end to the race, crashing out in lap 14. I had a good start and had quite a good rhythm during the race. Cal had just got past me and he had a good pace and I was trying to follow him. But unfortunately, at lap 14 I had a small crash and a disappointing end to the race. Anyway, we take the positives, we had such a short track time this weekend especially during the practise with just one session, I felt I could do quite a ride in the race until I went down. But we'll try again in Buriram."

Razlan Razali

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team, Founder and Team Principal

"It was a solid effort by Cal Crutchlow to get one point in the first Asian round in Japan. He had a strong pace, unfortunately due to the difficult qualifying yesterday because of the yellow flags, if only he started in front he could be amongst the top 10 because his pace was very strong, he felt good and we can be happy with that one point.

"With Darryn, he made a tremendous great start, gained seven positions in the first lap, unfortunately his pace dropped a bit but he was maintaining behind Cal, but a little mistake caused him to fall in lap 14. Next race will be in Buriram, Thailand, we have a couple of days to rest and then we start again."

Wilco Zeelenberg

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team

"That was a very different race day than the first two days, the temperature was completely different and much higher than FP1 on Friday, of course Saturday was full rain so everybody was shooting a little bit in the dark for the tyres. Many chose the hard rear tyres, and none of the Yamaha riders tried the hard rear tyre and it might have been a small error to do that. But anyway, Cal did a fantastic race again, 19 seconds behind the race winner which was very good and one point for the team. He missed out at the start a bit because he forgot to set up his launch control right and also could not engage the front starting device but other than that he did a good result.

"Even Darryn had a great first eight laps and had a good pace, and when Cal passed him and escaped a little bit, he struggled coming out of corner eight, with too much wheelie and power probably, he tipped into nine and when the bike stabilised he lost the front and crashed. Rider is okay, he picked up the bike and he could continue but there was too much gravel around to finish well. He was disappointed but he learnt a lot, it was not easy for him as we didn't have enough track time here in Japan. Let's go to Buriram and we hope we have stable weather and can do our practises in a normal way.”