"You can immediately feel the extra horsepower, which is impressive, but I'm happy because I could keep a very consistent pace" - Cal Crutchlow.
2011 MotoGP Rookie of the Year Cal Crutchlow finished his debut test on a 1000cc grand prix bike with the fourth fastest lap time after two-days at Valencia.
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider, who has won races on 1000cc machinery at World Superbike level, set a best lap time 0.743sec behind Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and only 0.212sec from top M1 rider Ben Spies.
“This was a very important test to get used to the new 1000cc YZR-M1 and thankfully the weather was in our favour and we could get in a lot of laps to understand the early potential of the bike," said the Englishman.
"The 1000 seems to suit my style a little better and I have to say that Yamaha has done a very good job and we are already working from a strong base. The bike feels quite similar to the 800 YZR-M1 but Yamaha has managed to keep the strong points of this year's bike.
"You can immediately feel the extra horsepower, which is impressive, but I'm happy because I could keep a very consistent pace.
"I'm looking forward to the winter break now. I learned a lot in my first season in MotoGP that will help me be much stronger in 2012."
New team-mate Andrea Dovizioso was one place and 0.7sec behind Crutchlow on the 16-rider timesheet.
source: crash
