As the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix officially launched on Thursday, the talk of the day was Cal Crutchlow’s switch to Ducati Team for 2014. The Englishman would receive some words of advice from former Ducati rider Valentino Rossi.

Rossi rode for Ducati Team across 2011 and 2012, but the nine-time World Champion was unable to claim a race victory and sealed a total of three podium finishes.

When asked what guidance he could provide for Crutchlow, Rossi paused and replied:

“I think Cal wants a factory bike very badly and maybe he thinks Yamaha isn’t giving enough importance to his work. For sure, he will go to Ducati and there are a lot of people who will work hard for him. Like he said, it is a great challenge.

“Dovi (Andrea Dovizioso, at Ducati since the start of this season and a former teammate to Crutchlow at Monster Yamaha Tech3) has had some problems to get it to the top, but Cal has a different riding style so why not?

“Advice? For sure, at the beginning it will be hard because the Ducati is a very difficult bike to get on the limit, unlike the Yamaha M1. At the factory they know they have to raise the level on the bike, so it will be interesting to see…”

Crutchlow’s new Ducati contract will take the Englishman to the end of 2015.