Cal's Progress
Mon, 29 Mar 2010
Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow showed solid race craft in the second superbike race today, confidently sticking with race leaders Max Biaggi and Leon Haslam to stand on the World Superbike podium for the first time. After dropping to fourth initially Crutchlow capitalised on his opportunity to move up when Johnny Rea was pushed wide by Haslam going into the first corner on lap three. He was never more than 0.3 seconds from the lead, taking his well earned podium in third at the finish line. Team-mate James Toseland wrapped up the day in race two with style, charging through the pack from 15th, overcoming a number of competitive riders to cross the line in sixth, nearly ten places up from the start.
Race one proved to be a display of consistency and determination from British rider Toseland. Starting from a less than perfect 15th on the grid, Toseland gradually worked his way through the pack. The final lap saw him close down a half second gap, taking Haga on the last corner to steal a well deserved seventh place finish at the line. His team-mate Crutchlow spent the majority of the race in third until an unfortunate low-side crash three laps from the end dropped him to 15th. He managed to pass 14th placed rider Tom Sykes on the last lap to stay in the points.
Crutchlow heads to Valencia in tenth position with 25 points, Toseland heads to the third round in Spain in 11th, tied on points with his team-mate with 25.
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (14th, 3rd)
“It was a tough day today from the first race, I made a stupid mistake, my own fault I was pushing too hard. We’ve made big steps from Australia, all credit to Yamaha they’ve done a fantastic job. We came here fighting but unfortunately in the first race I went down and Johnny Rea got through and got the podium. I’m looking forward to the next weekend in Valencia, if we can continue doing a good job and getting the success we’re starting to experience it’ll be a good season, let’s keep the ball rolling. The team have put in a sterling effort this weekend. Well done to Max Biaggi and Leon Camier as well.”
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“For sure we’ve made a great improvement after Australia, we got a Superpole and we got our first podium. I think this will be helpful in continuing to improve. I’m optimistic that what Cal achieved today can be what we expect to have for the next races. James is also improving, I’m sure that without the crash in Superpole he would have been starting from the first or second row and would have achieved even more during the races. He showed us that he’s finding his rhythm with the bike. A big thanks to all the guys in the team who have done a great job getting us back to being competitive, it’s something I really appreciate.”
BACK