Why Cal Crutchlow is “half-throttle everywhere” at start of MotoGP races

Cal Crutchlow’s return to MotoGP over the last couple of weeks in place of the injured Johann Zarco has brought several shocks, some to be expected and some less so. The speed of the field at the start of the races is one that falls into the latter category.

Crutchlow hadn’t raced in MotoGP since 2023 before coming in to replace Zarco at LCR Honda at Mugello last week.

It means he has experience of a slightly older iteration of the current bikes, with the ride height devices, aerodynamics, and the limitation of the front tyre.

All of those things have developed over the past few years, though, and they have made the starts of races seem bizarrely slow to Crutchlow.

“At the start, I thought ‘Why are they all going so slow’,” Cal Crutchlow said after the Hungarian MotoGP Sprint.

“Also at Mugello, I thought exactly the same: the first lap, it’s like a blockade, so you’re blocked in the back. 

“So, you wonder why they’re going so slow, but the reality is that they can’t really pass each other because it’s difficult to pass. 

“In the back you’re like half-throttle everywhere thinking ‘Why are they going so slow’, but then you try and pass someone and you say ‘Oh no, I can’t do it, it’s impossible’.”

One of the more obvious shocks Crutchlow has had to deal with has been the physicality, but he feels like he’s improving in that aspect.

“It was better than I expected, the shoulder,” Crutchlow said after the Hungary Sprint, referring to the shoulder he injured in Mugello.

“I just didn’t really push it in the start because I wanted to try and save the energy to see if I could complete the distance, and I did, and I got faster as the distance went on. So, we’re happy. 

“This is all we wanted to do, every single time I go on the bike we want to make improvements. 

“The last few laps of the race I started to understand a little bit more. But I know where I lose, I lose on the change of direction because of my shoulder. 

“But if we look at the data, in some areas I’m okay. In braking I’m okay, corner speed I’m okay, but just change of direction at the moment is difficult. 

“I also don’t want to make anything worse.”

He added: “I just need to be able to have a little bit more strength in myself, which will come. I came of my bicycle to jumping on a MotoGP bike – it’s not easy. 

“Physically, I feel fine, as in when I’m on the bike; of course I start to get tired, and the muscles that I haven’t used in ages start to get more tired than the other riders, but breathing-wise and everything I feel perfect. It’s just, I need time on the bike.”

Crutchlow also said that he is struggling to learn the circuit at Balaton, a circuit he hasn’t raced before.

“We’re not looking at the result, we’re looking that I’m improving on the bike, I’m understanding more, but it’s so difficult this circuit because I don’t know where I’m going,” he said.

“I have no idea where to brake. You will laugh because I was just explaining to the team: my reference to brake is where the black lines [tyre marks] stop. 

“So, when we accelerate, we leave rubber on the track, and the rubber suddenly stops so I say ‘Okay, now I have to f*cking brake, because if not you’re going to go straight’. 

“So you can see where the other riders have shut off, and then you start to brake. 

“It’s difficult because I just have no reference. I don’t have anybody in front of me, also, they’re a little bit faster than me at the moment, so it’s a little bit difficult to understand. 

“The good thing was, the last five laps of the race I had Rins at a certain level away from me, about five seconds, but if I tried to keep that distance it was easier to have some sort of reference, let’s say. But I enjoyed it. 

“I don’t think many people would say they enjoy to finish last every session, every race, but I don’t care; we are doing our job, we are happy, and I think it will get better. I got better from last week to this week, I got better from this morning to this afternoon.”