Crutchlow overheats, RCV still needs 'group' therapy

The fastest Honda rider by the end of free practice at the German MotoGP, Cal Crutchlow again fell victim to tyre overheating problems when racing in a group.

Without clear air, the front tyre on his RCV starts to overheat, which raises the pressure and reduces the grip.

The end result was that Crutchlow fell from fifth position at Turn 12, on lap 10 of 30.

"I gave my all and it didn't work out. The front tyre was too hot, too much pressure, same story when we are in a group," said the Englishman, who picked the hardest front tyre available.

"We can obviously evaluate after the race and look at what was happening to the tyre. 

"We know from my feeling on the bike [it was] getting worse and worse each lap. 

"I knew what was happening, but I’ve had it in a lot of races this year and had to manage it. Today unfortunately I didn't. 

"We looked at the data and three laps earlier I went in faster than I did on that lap! 

"It is a grip issue from the front tyre being too hot. 

"We try all the tricks of the trade to pull out of the slipstream, to not sit behind the other guys and try to turn later or tighter to avoid the heat."

Crutchlow is not the only Honda rider to face the overheating problems, with race winner Marc Marquez often appearing to wait and create space before launching an attack.

"As you saw with Marc, he seemed to play it perfectly by sitting [in second] with the gap to Lorenzo. The front tyre was good and when Lorenzo made a mistake he passed and had fresh air."

The LCR rider added: "It [the front overheating] has been the same for many years. 

"If you see Marc a couple of years ago he used to do the same thing: sit back, wait and then pounce when he could. I think he even did it here last year with Folger.

"It is frustrating I crashed today, but in the other races this year I think I did a good job to manage [the overheating]. 

"I don't think we are in bad shape. Other people are struggling as well it’s just that their bikes are different in different areas. 

"Valentino looked like he was struggling a lot with the rear and Maverick didn't because they had different tyres. There is a lot of strategy to it as well."

The Sachsenring fall has dropped Crutchlow to eighth in the world championship, although only nine points from satellite rival Johann Zarco (Tech3) and factory Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso.

"I’m disappointed, but I’ve had a good run in the last four races and racked-up some good points and I’ve been competitive in every race so we have to take the positives," said Crutchlow.

"I made a good start and was able to pass Viñales and I was there…but we didn't finish the race. 

"We have to take it on the chin and go to the next one.

"We are still ‘there’ in the championship. I am 9 points off fourth place and anything can happen in these races as you can see. You would have absolutely said that Dovi would have been on the podium today and he finished seventh."

Of the five competitors to chose the hard front tyre on Sunday, four were Honda riders (Crutchlow, Marquez, Pedrosa and Nakagami). The other was Aprilia's Scott Redding.

Nakagami, Crutchlow's rookie team-mate, also crashed out with Pedrosa the next best Honda after Marquez, in eighth place.