The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider was battling the remnants of the effects of food poisoning on Tuesday, as he tackled the opening day of the Sepang Test. Crutchlow takes positives from Sepang day one Cal Crutchlow’s first day at the official MotoGP Test at Sepang was a particularly tough one for the British rookie, who was still recovering from the aftermath of a bout of food poisoning in the sweltering Malaysian heat. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider continued his adaptation to the YZR-M1 as he prepares for his debut season in MotoGP, and a slow speed crash towards the end of the session persuaded him to call an end to his day having completed 36 laps. “It was a stupid crash in the first-gear hairpin!” said Crutchlow in the attached interview. “It has been difficult here today.” Despite his fall and weakened physical condition Crutchlow still managed to get within 0.219s of his best time of the entire Test at the same circuit three weeks ago. “Coming out here for the second time we’ve gone at a good speed and just as fast as the last Test, and consistently at the same speed, which is good,” said Crutchlow, who posted a 2’02.936 on Tuesday. “We’re just trying to work on a few things because changing a lot of things at once for me is really the main focus. I have to change the braking, the clutch control, the corner speed… everything from a normal production bike to a GP bike. So I’m trying to get everything to link in.” Commenting on where he thinks the key to taking the next step may lie, Crutchlow continued: “I think we know the area, it may be my positioning on the bike and that may have been the reason why we had the crash. I keep complaining about the same thing over and over again. But I’m not too worried about that, I think we’ll be able to show some speed over the next couple of days and continue the Test.” Talking about the physical issue that had dogged him in the intense Malaysian heat, Crutchlow added: “We decided to stop today because I was still feeling a bit dodgy with the stomach from the poisoning. I ate some bad food on the plane and for one day I was just completely sick, and now I’m feeling a bit drained. I’ve had to have a drip for some rehydration, especially with the heat being 45ºC, and that’s not so good after being sick for a day!”
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