Photo: motogp.com
It looks like the hiatus between Cal Crutchlow and Ducati is drawing nearer with each passing weekend. Despite his finish in the first top 10 riders after the Dutch MotoGP round at Assen last Saturday, Cal Crutchlow is obviously disappointed with his first half of the season, especially as he has 5 DNF to his name out of 8 races, most of them caused by bike malfunction.
Crutchlow has inked a two-year deal with the Borgo Panigale group and hoped to escape the dreaded fate of having to ride a machine which was almost “unrideable” as Valentino Rossi used to call it. Not only his fears turned out to be well-founded, but it appears like there also was something else wrong with his motorcycle as technical failures prevented him to even finish races, let alone put up a decent fight for points.
Having left from Herve Poncharal’s Yamaha Tech3 team where he was replaced by rookie Pol Espargaro, Crutchlow has almost certainly regretted having made the move to a bike with which he had nothing in common, which understeered and broke down all the time. Still, he seems to be able to pull out of the deal after just one year, and the half-season break might be the right moment to make a decision.
Bob Moore, Crutchlow’s manager admits he has already discussed with the boss of Suzuki’s MotoGP team Davide Brivio regarding the possibility to have the Isle of Man –native dressing a blue livery in 2015 and hop aboard the all-new XRH-1 machine. Brivio also confirmed these discussions and adds that Cal wants to first be able to analyze whatever options he is left with around mid-season.
Suzuki is still struggling to be on par with the fast bikes in the Open class, but still has one full season to sort things out as good as possible before the ECU software is being “ frozen” around this date next year, and 2016 kicks off with all the teams, Open and Factory alike field bikes with an “unified” software.
Cructhlow’s team mate and factory rider Andrea Dovizioso looks like he’s found the upgrades to the Desmosedici more to his liking and had a great race in Assen, managing to finish second for yet another podium this year, much to the joy of Gigi Dall’ Igna. The Ducati Corse boss has already started working on a new bike which is rumored to come with solutions to the current Ducati’s problems, but time is needed to putting things in the right order.
Now, time seems to be the one thing Crutchlow doesn’t have or is not willing to spend waiting to see whether the new Ducati is really THE Ducati. Since Dovi looks quite happy with his and his team slow, yet undeniable progress, we’re almost ready to put our money on Dovizioso getting a new team mate next year, and Crutchlow once more hoping his choice was not a bad one.
Having left from Herve Poncharal’s Yamaha Tech3 team where he was replaced by rookie Pol Espargaro, Crutchlow has almost certainly regretted having made the move to a bike with which he had nothing in common, which understeered and broke down all the time. Still, he seems to be able to pull out of the deal after just one year, and the half-season break might be the right moment to make a decision.
Bob Moore, Crutchlow’s manager admits he has already discussed with the boss of Suzuki’s MotoGP team Davide Brivio regarding the possibility to have the Isle of Man –native dressing a blue livery in 2015 and hop aboard the all-new XRH-1 machine. Brivio also confirmed these discussions and adds that Cal wants to first be able to analyze whatever options he is left with around mid-season.
Suzuki is still struggling to be on par with the fast bikes in the Open class, but still has one full season to sort things out as good as possible before the ECU software is being “ frozen” around this date next year, and 2016 kicks off with all the teams, Open and Factory alike field bikes with an “unified” software.
Cructhlow’s team mate and factory rider Andrea Dovizioso looks like he’s found the upgrades to the Desmosedici more to his liking and had a great race in Assen, managing to finish second for yet another podium this year, much to the joy of Gigi Dall’ Igna. The Ducati Corse boss has already started working on a new bike which is rumored to come with solutions to the current Ducati’s problems, but time is needed to putting things in the right order.
Now, time seems to be the one thing Crutchlow doesn’t have or is not willing to spend waiting to see whether the new Ducati is really THE Ducati. Since Dovi looks quite happy with his and his team slow, yet undeniable progress, we’re almost ready to put our money on Dovizioso getting a new team mate next year, and Crutchlow once more hoping his choice was not a bad one.
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