Cal Crutchlow says Raul Fernandez had \u201cmore balls\u201d than his MotoGP rivals by pushing hard and making an early escape at Silverstone.<\/p>\n
Raul Fernandez defied expectations of careful tyre conservation by bolting into an early lead in the Silverstone MotoGP.<\/p>\n
The Trackhouse rider pulled away from fellow Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi by an average of half a second per lap for the opening nine laps.<\/p>\n
Fernandez\u2019s advantage then peaked at 4.460s just as Bezzecchi lost second place to factory Aprilia team-mate Jorge Martin.<\/p>\n
However, any fears that Fernandez had overworked his rear tyre by pushing too hard too early, leaving him vulnerable in the second half of the race, proved unfounded.<\/p>\n
Although title leader Martin initially made an impact on Fernandez\u2019s advantage, the Trackhouse rider responded on laps 13 and 14, pushing the gap back above four seconds.<\/p>\n
Fernandez then managed his advantage over Martin to claim a comfortable 2.5s victory.<\/p>\n
Asked if he was surprised by how quickly Fernandez had been able to establish such a large lead, Cal Crutchlow, appearing in front of his home fans as a stand-in for the injured Johann Zarco at LCR Honda, replied:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you have to realise is [that happens when] someone is willing to take the gamble.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody is willing to push, and the others probably weren't willing to push.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaul had more balls in those first five laps than everyone else to say, \u2018I'm OK with the rear tyre [wear], I'm going\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere the others may have thought, \u2018OK, he's going to come back to us in ten laps\u2019 and he didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crutchlow also felt the Aprilia RS-GP played a part in allowing Fernandez to maintain his pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Aprilias were the only ones without any problem with the tyre [wear], let's say, over the whole weekend,\u201d Crutchlow said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone else was trying to manage [the tyre].<\/p>\n