Crutchlow: Ducati saving every drop of fuel

If Cal Crutchlow's warning light in Argentina was indeed for fuel consumption, he - and the Ducatis - may face a similar message in Sunday's Spanish MotoGP.

The Englishman still refuses to confirm what the light actually meant, which caused him to back off but nonetheless finish on the rostrum in Termas de Rio Hondo.

However, speaking at Jerez, Crutchlow did reveal: "I've seen it a few times [since], but I never had to manage the race as much last time in Austin."

Pramac's Danilo Petrucci admitted he was forced to switch to the lowest power map due to fuel consumption issues in Argentina and Crutchlow said of this weekend's event:

"Yeah, it is tough on fuel here... The worst ones that I've seen lately are the Ducatis. They crawl to the grid trying to save every drop. But maybe my light [was for fuel], maybe it wasn't. Maybe I pressed the pit lane limiter!"

Crutchlow spent a single season at Ducati in 2014, moving to the Desmosedici from the Yamaha M1 - a transition triple MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo is making this season.

The Englishman struggled for the first half of the '14 season before a podium at Aragon, then came within one lap of a repeat rostrum in Australia.

"Honestly speaking, my year in Ducati, I felt I was riding very, very well. I just never had the parts in the bike that were capable of being competitive - until I said I was leaving!" Crutchlow smiled. "But that's not against Ducati because I was riding well and they were helping me.

"In the end, honestly the bike was good. It didn't turn and never had great rear grip. But now it has great rear grip and it's a rocket. The bike is good and it's not shaking nothing like a Honda or anything. Sure it takes time to learn to ride it, but you put someone on it that's capable of riding like that and they'd win the championship."

Does the Ducati need to be ridden in a 'wild' way?

"You have to be willing to accept that's the way it's going to be and it's not anywhere near as wild as riding a Honda as such. So you put someone who's ridden a Honda on it - look at Redding, he was bad on the Honda and he found the Ducati a lot easier to ride.

"The Ducati is sort of halfway between the Yamaha and Honda [to ride]... the Ducati was the best decelerating bike I've ridden by far."

What exactly do the Honda riders mean when they say the bike is 'physical' to ride?

"As you can see on TV, compared to everyone else, we are constantly 'manually' riding the bike. We have to control the thing all the time; the rear brake, front brake, the wheelie, the sliding, the shaking, the wobbling into the corner... So when you get the result you feel better than the other guys, because you've worked hard! But that's the way it is and you have to ride it.

"This is why it's not easy for people to jump on the Honda and do well. It's not a bike that you can easily ride. It takes many years or experience of different bikes, which I had, and it takes a strong mind to think... 'I've just got to ride it'.

"Because that's the way it is. You can't change it. You're not going to suddenly turn around the next day and say 'I found one setting that works'. You've got to manually ride the bike and learn the tricks of the trade."