Coventry kid Crutchlow suffers at Monza
Mon, 10 May 2010
CIA’s Cal Crutchlow was left to rue what might have been after seeing defeat snatched from the jaws of victory in World Superbike round five at Monza.
The 24-year-old Yamaha Sterilgarda rider looked back to his usual self at the Italian circuit after an indifferent past two rounds qualifying on the front row in second.
The reigning World Supersport champion built on that in race one finishing third after narrowly being pipped to the line by winner Max Biaggi and teammate James Toseland.
Crutchlow had a golden chance to upgrade in race two after Toseland crashed on the first corner of the first lap and took podium rivals Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus with him.
But Crutchlow followed suit when inches behind soon-to-be double winner Biaggi with six laps to go after his bike was surrounded by a billow of black smoke – much to his disappointment.
“The first race wasn’t too bad considering the circumstances because I had a bit of problem with the gear shifting,” said Crutchlow.
“There was a leaky engine oil cover and oil was leaking all over my foot and I kept slipping off the gear lever – so changing gears was hard.
And that just got that bit worse in race two which was so frustrating because of what had happened earlier and where I was. It was a shame to miss out on getting pole position – it was really tight in the end as it was during the races.
“I was struggling for speed but was still involved and I felt strong. I didn’t get the best of starts but the Yamaha is quite hard to get off the line. But despite that I have to give credit to Max, he rode fantastically well throughout the whole weekend.”
Crutchlow heads to round six at Kyalami, South Africa in less than a week’s time with just a 16 point haul from Monza – taking his overall tally to 65. Despite remaining in tenth in the championships standings he is now 116 behind leader Leon Haslam, who finished second in race two, an issue he has vowed to quickly address.
“I knew it was going to be tough on race day and that it would be about race craft,” he added. “It was but there were also things out of my control.
“But the team still did well, Monza is their home round and it was good to get a good qualifying performance and race one finish for them.
“They have put in a lot of effort but that can’t stop now we need to build on every round.
l World Superbike Championship races will be broadcast on Eurosport, with the European rounds also available in High Definition. Eurosport Sky 410 & Virgin Media 521. Eurosport HD is on Sky 412 and Virgin Media 522.
Source: Coventry Evening Telegraph
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