“Raul had more balls” - Cal Crutchlow explains Fernandez’s Silverstone MotoGP victory
Cal Crutchlow says Raul Fernandez had “more balls” than his MotoGP rivals by pushing hard and making an early escape at Silverstone.
Raul Fernandez defied expectations of careful tyre conservation by bolting into an early lead in the Silverstone MotoGP.
The Trackhouse rider pulled away from fellow Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi by an average of half a second per lap for the opening nine laps.
Fernandez’s advantage then peaked at 4.460s just as Bezzecchi lost second place to factory Aprilia team-mate Jorge Martin.
However, any fears that Fernandez had overworked his rear tyre by pushing too hard too early, leaving him vulnerable in the second half of the race, proved unfounded.
Although title leader Martin initially made an impact on Fernandez’s advantage, the Trackhouse rider responded on laps 13 and 14, pushing the gap back above four seconds.
Fernandez then managed his advantage over Martin to claim a comfortable 2.5s victory.
“Raul had more balls”
Asked if he was surprised by how quickly Fernandez had been able to establish such a large lead, Cal Crutchlow, appearing in front of his home fans as a stand-in for the injured Johann Zarco at LCR Honda, replied:
“What you have to realise is [that happens when] someone is willing to take the gamble.
“Somebody is willing to push, and the others probably weren't willing to push.
“Raul had more balls in those first five laps than everyone else to say, ‘I'm OK with the rear tyre [wear], I'm going’.
“Where the others may have thought, ‘OK, he's going to come back to us in ten laps’ and he didn't.”
Crutchlow also felt the Aprilia RS-GP played a part in allowing Fernandez to maintain his pace.
“The Aprilias were the only ones without any problem with the tyre [wear], let's say, over the whole weekend,” Crutchlow said.
“Everyone else was trying to manage [the tyre].
“Maybe [Aprilia] just weren't generating the same heat [in the rear tyre] as the rest of the manufacturers and riders for some reason."
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
