LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow improved throughout the opening day of the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas as the third round of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship got underway in earnest. Looking to build on his impressive podium finish in Argentina, Crutchlow finished Friday’s free practice sessions in seventh position at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin.

As he had predicted in Thursday’s press conference, the Briton and his team struggled to pinpoint the ideal settings for his Honda RC213V in the morning as he ended down in 11th spot. But Crutchlow then made real strides and improved by nearly a second and a half in the afternoon session as he laid down a marker for Saturday qualifying.

Crutchlow’s fellow Honda rider Marc Marquez edged Maverick Viñales to emerge on top of the timesheets on Friday, but – less than two tenths behind Valentino Rossi in fourth – the LCR Honda man is hopeful of further improvement tomorrow. 

#35 Cal Crutchlow – 7th (2’05.005)

“Today we found quite a good setting in the second free practice. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel great during the first first free practice on the bike or the tyres, but this afternoon it seemed a bit better with the harder front tyre and the harder rear tyre.

“We still have a few small things that we want to try on the bike, areas where I want to improve and I think we can. But the team did a good job and hopefully we can improve even more tomorrow.”