Crutchlow has had a tough season with the tough 2020 Honda. His best result so far was 13th place.
The Brit has complained that the bike is harder to stop and harder to turn. With new tires, we cannot accelerate due to a lack of traction. Crutchlow has previously expressed his dislike of Michelin’s new 2020 rear tire but doesn’t think that’s the main problem – it’s more that the Honda isn’t performing well with the tire.
Explaining his problems on the bike, Crutchlow said, “I feel like I may not be riding the best I’ve ever ridden, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try. But if I ride 90% of the time, with a good bike that should still be in the top eight, then I can get more out of the feeling [of the bike], then I might drive it 95% and that’s the top six.
“[If I] Drive 100%, it’s a podium. And I feel like I’m driving maybe 90-95%. I can’t do more than I can do with the package below. We go around in circles with it. We can try the bike in 15 different positions and see from the data that the bike does exactly the same thing.
“If you can ride the bike more manually, you can get the most out of the bike, but right now you can’t. We don’t stop the bike, we don’t turn the bike properly because we don’t stop, then we don’t finish the curve. On the other hand, despite the problems, the lag and the turn, you can catch up for some time if you have the rear handle.
“It’s always been an area I’ve been strong at, but we literally can’t accelerate with this bike.”
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He continued: “I don’t think it’s the tires because everyone else has better grip with these tires than in previous years. I think our bike won’t work on this tire for some reason, but we can’t understand why. “
Crutchlow’s fights come as teammate Takaaki Nakagami on the year-old Honda scored his first front row in second place at the Styrian GP, posing a threat to the podium.
But Crutchlow believes Nakagami was faster on the Honda this season because his bike is “more sophisticated” than the 2020 version.