MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 51 ISSUE 20 MAY 20, 2014 P37
Briefly...
Cal Crutchlow's switch to Ducati
has been troubled and painful. And
even more puzzling, as he struggles
to match not just teammate Andrea
Dovizioso but also satellite rider An-
drea Iannone. The deficit is clear
enough from data: it comes under
braking, an element of the Italian
bike that Dovizioso marks as an im-
provement, although the understeer
remains an unsolved problem. "I'm
losing all the time in braking," said
Crutchlow, who also confirmed the
difficulty in getting the bike to turn.
"I use more brake pressure than the
other riders, but the bike is not stop-
ping." Ducati was experimenting with
his position in the bike, but it was still
a work in progress, and somewhat
mysterious. "Both Andreas are really
good in braking, and I'm not bad, but
corner speed is my strong point. So
the bike plays to their strengths." Ac-
cording to Dovizioso, the other step
forward is reduced wheelies under
acceleration, a factor of improved
balance rather than electronics.
Arm-pump problems have claimed
two MotoGP victims early in the
season, with both Dani Pedrosa
and Stefan Bradl undergoing sur-
gery in the days after the Jerez GP
two weeks ago. Pedrosa took a
"smooth" start to the weekend, with
his arm still swelling and the scar
painful in spite of specially enlarged
leathers; but claimed after qualifying
that he was not particularly troubled
and was riding without painkillers.
Bradl relied on the drugs for his early
return, which helped him to shrug off
any problems.
Nicky Hayden is leading calls for an
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