Cal Crutchlow digs at MotoGP rivals: “People I don’t like…”

The British rider returned to replace Andrea Dovizioso for the final six races of the 2022 season for Yamaha.

He will resume duties as a Yamaha test rider in 2023, leaving the grid that he first joined in 2011, but has aimed one final dig at his rivals.

“When I came back I thought: 'I have to get going again’,” he added to The Telegraph.

“Because I didn't want to come here to go around and cash my cheque. I'm not that kind of person.

“The change has been good, I got my dose of adrenaline to continue being fast on a bike.”

Crutchlow said about his role in developing the Yamaha bike that Fabio Quartararo hopes can guide him to title glory again: "It's true that testing is, in general, boring.

“Because you are alone on the circuit. There have been days when there were 27 people in the box and nobody on the track. If I did 10 laps, you could perfectly see the 10 black lines where I had passed, it's a rare thing.”

Crutchlow, 37, said about how MotoGP has changed: “Now it's more difficult, because the riders understand bikes more and how to get the best out of them.”

He said about tyres: "They tighten things up because everyone can do the same thing. Before you had to control the gas much more and manage the situation on the bike. 

“Now they're going full speed from start to finish. You can't go halfway through here, because then you stay behind; rolling alone. And it's dangerous, because then the tyres don't work and you risk more.

"They're bikes you can't slow down with. They are nothing like a superbike, they are very rigid. So the tighter you squeeze, the better you feel it.”