Cal Crutchlow: MotoGP bikes “a lot harder to ride than before”

Cal Crutchlow says the current MotoGP prototypes are "amazing" but also significantly harder to ride than the machines he raced during his final full-time season.

Crutchlow took part in his first Italian MotoGP for seven years as a replacement for Johann Zarco at LCR Honda last weekend.

Mugello wasn’t on the calendar for Crutchlow’s final 2020 full-time season, nor among his eleven wildcard/replacement appearances for Yamaha in 2021-2023.

“I can only speak about Honda, because I'm riding Honda. The bike is amazing. It’s a lot better than me,” said Crutchlow, who was forced to retire halfway through the Italian Grand Prix due to a muscle tear in his shoulder.

“But if you speak to other Honda riders, they want to make improvements and of course, I’m also giving comments to try to help them.

“The bikes are heavy, really heavy with the downforce of the wings and all of these things now. But I think most of the bikes feel like this. And obviously to me they feel even heavier because I haven't been riding them.

“They are amazing bikes now. But that doesn't mean they're easy to ride because I think they're a lot harder to ride now than before.

“If I'm comparing to ‘22, 23, 24 when I was doing the [Yamaha] testing, they are similar, honestly speaking. But if I'm comparing to 2019 and 2020, they are a lot more difficult to ride.

“Then we only used to have some front wings. Now we have front, side, back, seat unit, all of these things to create downforce.”

Crutchlow, a three-time Grand Prix winner for LCR, also reflected on how MotoGP has evolved away from the track, with riders now facing greater demands than ever before.

“MotoGP as a whole, the paddock, is moving on with the times - media, social media and all of these things,” he said.

“I'm 40 years old, so I'm at a different point.

“I think it's very difficult for the riders, first of all. They have so much attention, press, and commitments, all of these things instead of just racing.

“50% of them want to just race. And 50% are happy to be doing these kinds of things because they like the spotlight more. But you are always going to get this.

“But what I think they are doing in MotoGP is very, very good.

“More and more people are watching. People I know who don't even know that much about MotoGP will watch it on their TV. All of these things.

“So, I think it is going in the right direction for MotoGP. 

"For the riders. I don't know. I think it is a big commitment to be doing what they are doing now and trying to race.

“That's my only take, but I am sure most of them feel the same. But it is what it is.”

Crutchlow will be back on track for LCR at Balaton Park this weekend.