Matthew Birt · @birtymotogp
4th Feb 2014 from TwitLonger
Cal Crutchlow on 1st day in Sepang: "I did the morning on the GP13 and the afternoon on the GP14 but I don't see a massive difference. There are positives with both. We need to take some things from each bike and build from there. But I am very rusty, I did just one day on a motorcycle in the whole winter, so I was a little dizzy at the start of the day and things were too fast."
Small crash?
"I just spun around in a circle. We had a small issue by trying something in with the gear change and it upset the bike (the GP13) and just spun around. I went faster on the old bike than the new bike. Today was about riding again after two months on a bicycle. And they say it takes a little bit of time to come back up speed after you get married. We have some work to do, clearly, but I'm not worried because we used just two sets of tyres today. We did a lot of short runs trying an electronic strategy that Gigi wanted us to do but we didn't have to go fast for that."
Expect a big jump with bike before first race?
"I don't know because I don't know the plan but I do want a big jump in lap time but how it will I don't know. Traditionally with Ducati this has been their worst circuit over the years, so to test here is crucial."
Why worse here?
"Because the grip is low and it exaggerates everything. With every bike this track feels worse because the grip is low, so if can solve some problems here it is normally better at every circuit. Tomorrow we will start with a completely different set-up."
GP14 is bike for championship?
"The new bike is more cosmetically different, there is not a big difference to the '13 bike. The bikes are similar and Gigi has only been here two months and you can't build a motorcycle in this time. We expected some small changes and we have those but we had some teething problems today. It is our first run with this bike on the track. We only did 40 laps."
Differences between 13 and 14 bikes?
"The GP13 stops a little better but the GP14 turns in a little better but the characteristics are very similar. At Valencia I said the turn in was one of the worst things plus the wheelie and it seems that the '14 bike is better in these areas. But with some problems today I only did 3-lap runs."
About racing an open class bike?
"I know nothing about it, is there an open class? Gigi will control the situation and we will follow him. From my perspective as a rider I want to compete at the same level as anyone, everyone on the same rule, but I also want to progress the Ducati and obviously it would be a good idea if we went that route."