Criville crashes during testing at Jerez
|
On day two of Team Repsol YPF Honda's three-day testing at Jerez, Alex Crivillé has
crashed out an hour before the end of this afternoon's session. The Spanish rider has
slightly injured his right hand's little finger. After a first diagnosis done at the circuit's
medical center, Repsol YPF Honda's rider has flown to Barcelona to double check his injury. In the words of the doctors from the circuit:
"Alex Crivillé has suffered a slight erosion of a distal phalanx of his right hand's small finger. However, the X-ray has shown no
fracture".
Alex and new team mate, Japanese Tohru Ukawa, have been testing at the Jerez circuit since Monday 27th, and the latter will also be testing there tomorrow. Alex rode 63 laps yesterday, while Tohru increased that number to 68. Today the Japanese rider has ridden 78 laps. Alex's best lap time has been close to the one set at the last Spanish Grand Prix held in May. After today's unfortunate incident Alex has said: "I've crashed out going into the Dry Sack corner at around 100 km/h. I've lost the front and my hand has been trapped under the bike. That's why it's been badly scratched, although I feel ok, I would rather visit the Dexeus Clinic in Barcelona to see how injured my finger really is. I can only say that testing has gone well till today. The new bike has got a lot of potential and it's really competitive. But don't forget it's like starting from nought because it's completely new, so we have no references from the past. We've still got a lot of work to do. In these two days we've focused on the bike's chassis and tyres to get different feelings from the bike. Now I want to take a month's break so that I'm fully fit and with batteries charged in January". Team-mate Tohru Ukawa will stay in Jerez riding his 2000 500 NSR Repsol YPF Honda bike to increasingly adapt to the new class:
"We've had some chattering problems in the front today. I've been testing the 16.5" Michelin rear tyre and although lap times have been close to the ones using the 17" tyre, I've felt more comfortable with the first option. I only know I need more time on the bike because it's completely different to what I've ridden before. After testing in Australia and Malaysia we've given a big step forward. However, I'm aware that there's still a lot of work to do during the pre-season". |
Relive any of this year's Grand Prix in our Grand Prix Racing section