Crutchlow Sets Competitive Lap Time on Japanese GP Opening Day

29-09-2023

Crutchlow Sets Competitive Lap Time on Japanese GP Opening Day

The YAMALUBE RS4GP Racing Team have kicked of their programme at the Grand Prix of Japan today. Wild-card entry Cal Crutchlow completed a total of 38 laps in the two Friday MotoGP sessions at the Mobility Resort Motegi to gather as much data as possible to boost the Yamaha M1‘s development. He finished the Friday in 16th place.

The YAMALUBE RS4GP Racing Team had a positive first day of riding during the Grand Prix of Japan Friday MotoGP sessions. Cal Crutchlow focused on analysing prototype-parts analysis in a premier-class race weekend setting and wrapped up the Practice in 16th place. He is on the entry list for tomorrow‘s Q1.

Though Crutchlow‘s only objective for this race weekend is to gather as much data as possible on new items and setting options to boost the M1 development and help the Factory team, he was pleasantly surprised that he was already setting some positive lap times with the YAMALUBE RS4GP bike. He clocked a 1‘46.302s in Free Practice 1, which put him in 18th place in the morning results, 1.110s from first. With an hour of track time during the extra-long afternoon Practice session, the Briton was able to improve on his final run to an impressive 1‘44.709s. It earned him 16th place in the combined classification, 1.220s from the top.

YAMALUBE RS4GP Racing Team will continue their testing programme during the Saturday MotoGP sessions: FP2 will be held from 10:10 - 10:40 GMT + 9, followed by qualifying sessions from 10:50 - 11:30, and the Sprint that starts at 15:00.

Cal Crutchlow

YAMALUBE RS4GP Racing Team

"Today went well. We enjoyed being back in the MotoGP class with the YAMALUBE RS4GP bike. We‘re trying to understand different parts of the Yamaha for moving forward with development. These are parts that I have already tested over the year. Some that we thought were positive and others we didn‘t like so much, but it‘s always great to get some mileage on this bike. There is no need for us to come to this GP and ride the standard bike that Fabio and Franky are riding, because we already have the data from this. So, it‘s good for us to evaluate other parts over the weekend. Today went without any drama. It was good to get the test team into working mode for a race weekend, which is different from the testing role that we usually play. We are now going to endeavour to do better tomorrow with regards to looking at the data and how we can improve the setting and the feeling. Today‘s set-up was not my preferred setting for the bike because, as I said, we are evaluating different things, but today went quite well. I was happy enough with my lap time, considering the pace of the guys at the front."

Kazuhiro Masuda

YAMALUBE RS4GP Racing Team Director

"Today we tried various testing parts. We found some good things but also some things that were less good, so we are looking to strike the right balance tomorrow. We will stick to the testing procedure we originally planned as we continue to look for improvements and also data that can help the Factory Team in the future."