Crutchlow: Honda must allow riders to "stop braking like idiots"
LCR rider Cal Crutchlow believes Honda needs to work on its MotoGP chassis, so its riders can “stop braking like idiots” with its current package.
Honda has struggled with acceleration in recent years, with its riders becoming more dependent on making up time in braking areas, a task made more difficult with 2016’s switch to Michelin tyres.
Its engine was again the focus over the winter, including a change of firing order in a bid to improve drive, but Crutchlow believes work on the RC213V’s chassis - which has so far played second fiddle - would also be beneficial.
Factory riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa have largely eschewed frame updates, with Crutchlow adopting one that had been tried and discarded by Pedrosa for the second half of the 2016 season.
“We know we need to stop braking like idiots, because that’s our only ammunition,” Crutchlow said.
“If we can build a chassis that helps us do that, then OK. But it’s not going to happen tomorrow and it probably won’t happen this year.
“That’s not a comment against my manufacturer, against my team or anything like that. It’s more of a comment that we’ve looked at the engine for the last two years and I believe a lot will come from the chassis.
“I’ve ridden the other bikes [Tech 3 Yamaha and Ducati], I know what the chassis is doing and I believe that’s an area where we could improve a lot.”
Marquez wants more chassis work
Crutchlow won a pair of races in the second half of 2016, and is fifth in the standings after the first three rounds of this year, having finished third in Argentina and fourth at Austin after crashing in Qatar.
Marquez crashed out of the lead in Argentina before winning at Austin to move back up to third in the championship, and believes the engine and chassis have to complement each other.
“If you have a better engine, you have a better chassis,” said the Spaniard. “This makes it easier, if you have a better engine, the chassis side is also easier.
“It’s true on the chassis area that still we need to work, but on the corners we are still really fast.
“We have a problem with front confidence, we have a problem with the front tyre, but we are the fastest one on the entry of the corner.
“The problem is that we are losing all the time on the same areas.”
Additional reporting by Charles Bradley and Oriol Puigdemont
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