British Grand Prix Rider Quotes: Pramac, Crutchlow, Smith & Kent

Today was a very interesting day for myself. I spoke to the Pramac riders, Cal Crutchlow and Danny Kent, as well as pose a question to Bradley Smith in the press conference.

I asked Yonny Hernandez and Danilo Petrucci about the circuit and their chances for this weekend's Grand Prix.

Hernandez: “Especially for me it is a circuit I like. I hope to do a good job here at the Silverstone track."

Petrucci: “Silverstone is one of my favourite tracks. As you said I won here in 2011 in the Superstock and I was with Ducati, so it is a good memory for me. In three years of racing in MotoGP I have never had a good weekend, but always finished the race and this year I want to finish in the top 10 like the past races, because it is one of my target to finish in the top 10. Also, here, I want to stay in the top 10 in the championship.

“In the last two races, not in Brno, but in Sachsenring and Indianapolis I finish very, very close to Pol Espargaro so it is a good challenge for me to finish just behind the Tech 3 machine, to stay close with them and also Crutchlow. For me Espargaro is a good target, it is good for me to always finish close to them.”

Next, I sat down with Cal Crutchlow's media scrum for what was a rather amusing and insightful 20 minutes.

Asked about his relationship with the circuit, the Briton quipped: “Nope! Have you ever had laughing gas and antibiotics? They're some great memories, I can tell you that.

“I've had a tough Grand Prix career at Silverstone, but there's no reason why that can't change in a weekend. I'm looking forward to it. I'll try my best, whatever happens, and see how it goes. Last year was just shit. Last year I just rode round and tried not to crash, which I didn't, but last year was just a joke.

When asked about how he thought the Honda would perform, he replied: “There are sections of this circuit that suit the Honda and sections that suit the Yamaha. Honestly, I think we'll see the Suzuki go well; they may lose out a little bit too much in the back straight, especially if it's windy.”

He also noted that tyre temperature will be a real issue, so much so that the riders were advised to not do cool-down laps: “The concern is tyres; we've been told not to do any slow laps, because you take that heat out the tyre everybody crashes on the next lap because of the wind.”

When asked about countryman Danny Kent and his links to the premier class, Cal gave a very interesting answer: “Yeah, he'll definitely be up to it. These riders are class riders, unfortunately they are not Marc Marquez's or Valentino Rossi's but they can have a fantastic career in MotoGP. With Danny, if he's coming, he needs to not even think about a result and just learn how to ride the bike. You can't go off “oh Marc Marquez came from Moto2 and the suddenly he started winning” - what about Pol (Espargaro) and Scott Redding? So, what I'd say to Danny is just take your time; he's a great rider, a really, really great rider. I don't know whether his style is the style for MotoGP as such though. I would say he has to change a lot.

“If you can get here, get here. If you get given the opportunity then you've got to take it, because next year something will change again where there will be no rides available. I don't think Moto2 is the best feeder ground for MotoGP, I honestly believe that the tyres and the chassis they've got are more like standard as such, and they're not like the 250 that was Grand Prix bikes, they were Grand Prix bikes. Everybody at the front, as such, has rode a Grand Prix."

Building upon that comment, I asked him whether he thought that staying in Moto2 for a long time, like Johann Zarco, is a hindrance: “Zarco I think has just missed the boat because if there was a chance that he could have came up it was to come up now, where in the next year we don't with contracts and some riders might ride bad. But, honestly, you're not going to get those top eight guys out of the top eight seats or maybe even the top ten guy out of the top ten seats. I heard there were rumours Zarco was going to come and he should have taken it. It's not easy to come; it's easy to leave, I can tell you that.

“The problem with MotoGP is it's a shit-fight. Every year it's getting worse and worse – there's too many good riders in it, too many guys that are getting faster.”

I asked Bradley Smith about his chances for the weekend. Stating that it seems likely he will be top satellite rider, I wondered whether he thought the podium was achievable: “Are you a clairvoyant, or... What's the story there? I mean top satellite rider is certainly something that doesn't come easy; there's a lot of talented guys battling me for that one, so to say I'll probably get it is a little too much. I would love to fight for the podium, it's what I'm trying to work for with my team. It's what we try for every week as a satellite team for our team effort, for our sponsors that's what we try to do. I don't think it's a realistic target. I'll certainly try, I'll certainly put in a lot of effort and fingers crossed it will happen – maybe not this weekend, but certainly by the end of the year.

Finally, I asked Moto3 standings leader Danny Kent about the race itself and its possible venue change next year to the Circuit of Wales: “Silverstone is such a massive venue for the UK with the Formula 1, with the MotoGP. Personally I can't see the Circuit of Wales being built in time for next year, it's going to be very difficult. It's been delayed, it costs a lot of money and when it gets built they want it to be done 100%. There's nothing I can do (in regards to venue change), I just have to go where it's put on the calendar. Of course we were meant to be going to Donington. I enjoy Donington, I enjoy Silverstone so at the end of the day it's our job, we've got to do what they're told. I look forward to seeing if Circuit of Wales gets built; it's always good to go to a new track and learn the track.”

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