Crutchlow ‘disappointed, devastated’ by British GP cancellation

Cal Crutchlow described his mood as “disappointed” and “devastated” after the British Grand Prix which he had designs on winning was cancelled due to a track surface that was unable to drain standing water successfully.

On Sunday evening, the Englishman revealed he was willing to race later in the afternoon, but said he fully accepted the Safety Commission’s decision to cancel all three grand prix, an unprecedented feat in modern times.

Crutchlow also stated there were spells between the race’s initial start time of 11:30 and 16:00, when the final decision was taken, during which he felt the rain had relented sufficiently to race.

As it was, he was left to contemplate a missed opportunity to challenge for a home race win. Had the rain not come on Sunday, Crutchlow felt he was “in great shape to potentially win” this weekend.

“We have to address the situation of why we didn't race today,” said Crutchlow, who had qualified fourth for Sunday’s premier class race. “As has been explained, the Safety Commission decided it was not possible to race today in any condition – if it continued to stop raining or if it continued to rain.

“Just simply because if it rained a lot when you are halfway around the lap and you get to the next corner you don't know how deep the water is. You don't understand the situation, like we didn't yesterday and you saw what happened, five guys crashed.

“The decision was they could have taken the race at 16:30. At the time we were in the Safety Commission. I think at 16:30 maybe it was possible to race, but a lot of riders voted that they didn't want to continue with the grand prix and we have to respect that decision.

“Would I have raced? Yes, probably. But that's not the issue. The issue is the riders' decided that they wouldn't race and we have to respect that decision because it wasn't safe, you could see it wasn't safe when we left pit-lane for the sighting lap. Whether the water got any less or any more… how do you know it's not going to rain again halfway around the lap and it's a long lap here.

“I'm very disappointed and devastated that the fans never got to see a race today. Also for everybody who watched, who turned up, who worked all weekend, the marshals that sat there. As I said, it's disappointing, but we all wanted to race. All the riders came here this weekend to race.

“It's not that we just turn around and say, 'we'll have a weekend off'. We don't want to be sat here either not being able to put on a show for the fans that have turned up. We tried our best, but this was the decision of the Safety Commission, that we wouldn't ride.

“I'm disappointed yes because I didn't get to ride at home, whether I would have won, lost or drawn I would have loved to have raced at home. In the dry I felt I was in great shape to potentially win the race this weekend.

“There was a window earlier in the day, I felt as well. But I don't know the reasons why we didn't go out or not to go then. But earlier when we went to the grid, it was impossible to race. That's for sure.

“Then also in afternoon they were still trying to disperse the water for a long time. And then it started to rain again. So when the actual people were out on the track trying to move the water, it started to rain again after that window.”

Was postponing the race to Monday ever a realistic consideration? “No, I think the decision to race on Monday is a logistical nightmare and again, like cancelling a grand prix, it's not as easy as just saying 'race tomorrow',” he said.

“I wish it was and everybody wishes it was because it's a Bank Holiday here tomorrow and I think you would have had a vast majority of the crowd able to come back. But I don't think it's that easy or simple.”

On the conditions he encountered when leaving pit lane before the scheduled start at 11:30, Crutchlow said, “It was most of the track, yeah. I came out of pit lane and started to change gear and you were just spinning, spinning… and not spinning like a used tyre, you were spinning on surface water.

“So you can imagine when you shut the throttle or brake with the front brake, you are aquaplaning with the front not the rear. You can half manage to aquaplane with the rear because you have a throttle in your hand. But when you have a brake in your hand and it's to do with the front it's a lot more difficult, the situation.”