The CWM LCR Honda Team completed their penultimate pre-season at Sepang today.

The day began in typical fashion at the scorching 3.444 mile circuit, with all riders heading quickly out onto the track at 10am to take advantage of the coolest part of the day. Cal Crutchlow was one of those firing in fast lap times from the off, topping the timesheet’s early on, and eventually setting a stunning personal best of 1’59.658, making him the third fastest rider of this week’s test.

Satisfied with the work done on the softer rubber, the British rider then set about working on the bike’s set-up in race trim, aiming to put in a long stint on the harder option tyres. However a slight issue with the braking system meant that he was forced to abandon his full-race plan for safety reasons, but he was nonetheless happy with the consistent progress made this week.

Jack Miller set his best lap of the week today, putting in an impressive 2’01.593 before focusing on race set-up once more on his Open spec Honda RC213V-RS.


Cal Crutchlow #35, 3rd (1’59.658, lap 6 of 58)

“For a track that I dislike, that’s my fastest ever lap around here by nearly eight-tenths of a second. I felt good and comfortable on the bike, and it’s not a bad lap considering the conditions of the circuit today.

“I’m happy enough with how things are, but I still need to improve my riding style. The corner speed isn’t too bad, but although straight line braking is good, the other riders can take more risks than me in the moments just after. That’s a confidence thing though, and as the exit from the corners isn’t too bad I still think there is more to come.

“In my earlier race simulation we didn’t have any braking power with the bike - exactly the same problem as Marc Marquez had earlier this week. As I have said we have been struggling with corner entry as it was, but I was still really riding well in my long run, it felt quite good but I was losing a second maybe on some laps just from being unable to stop with the brakes.”

Jack Miller #43, 22nd (2’01.593, lap 9 of 40)

“I’m really happy with how the test has gone and I have worked hard on the bike but also on myself in order to get more comfortable as the laps go on. We’re not too far off. I’m the second of the rookie riders out there so that makes me happy because there are some other more experienced guys that have been used to bigger bikes behind me, so it’s good to be where we are."

“Of course, we’re still not quite as fast as we would like to be, but everybody’s putting out some really quick times – my team-mate Cal did a scorcher this morning – so it’s not easy at the moment, but it’s good to feel like we’re making progress."

“For now I’m reasonably pleased overall, but I will admit that I’m looking forward to the next test in Qatar, which is a track that’s a different style and a bit more flowing. It will be good to get there and try out another circuit on this bike.”