Davide Tardozzi was ‘perplexed’ by one big decision Cal Crutchlow made during time at Ducati

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Cal Crutchlow arrived in MotoGP as an exciting prospect back in 2011. He’d finished third in the British Superbike championship, and won the Supersport World Title with Yamaha.

A year before his move to Grand Prix racing, Crutchlow had finished fifth in the World Superbike standings, scoring three victories and 10 podiums. Tech3, then a Yamaha satellite team, were delighted to welcome him to the premier class.

He spent the first three years of his career with the French outfit, scoring four podiums and 188 points in 2013 to bag P5 in the championship. That would prove to be a career-best showing.

His performances that year earned him a move to the Ducati factory squad, but his stint at Bologna was brief. After just one year, he switched to the Honda-aligned LCR team.

Crutchlow scored the first victory of his career at the 2016 Czech Republic GP and added two more in LCR colours. However, he was never able to mount a championship challenge.

At the end of 2020, he announced his retirement from full-time racing. He’s made cameo appearances since, and remains a test rider for Yamaha in 2024.

Davide Tardozzi ‘never understood’ why Cal Crutchlow chose to leave Ducati

Speaking to journalist Giovanni Zamagni on his YouTube channel, Ducati’s Davide Tardozzi reflected on the team’s short relationship with Crutchlow. He confirmed to Zamagni that there was a contract in place for 2015.

However, Tardozzi believes that the rider was led astray by his management. Having been optimistic for the future, he was stunned when Crutchlow decided to leave in August.

While he went on to win races in the Honda stable, Tardozzi suspects that he regrets the move. The Japanese manufacturers were still dominant in that era, with Ducati only breaking their stranglehold in 2020.

Looking back at the 2014 launch event with Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso, Tardozzi said: “Unfortunately, for some reason – I never understood why – Cal, pushed by his manager, decided to leave halfway through the season. I was perplexed.

“I said ‘look, with the new bike you can only get better’. In my opinion, he regretted that decision. Whoever was with him at that time convinced him that the best option was to go to Honda.”

Who will be the next British rider in MotoGP after Cal Crutchlow retirement?

Crutchlow was struggling relative to teammate Dovizioso in 2014. He scored just 74 points to the Italian’s 187.

But Dovizioso already had a year of experience on the bike, and perhaps Tardozzi and co. expected an improvement from Crutchlow once he’d fully adapted. They never got the chance to see the project through.

He remains the last Briton to race full-time in the premier class. Spaniards and Italians are dominant in the series – Crutchlow’s Czech Republic win was the first for a UK rider since Barry Sheene in 1981.

Jake Dixon started two races for Yamaha during the 2021 season and continues to race in Moto2, but at 29, it looks as if his MotoGP window has closed. 21-year-old Scott Ogden finds himself in Moto3 for a fourth straight season, but there’s some excitement around teenager Eddie O’Shea ahead of his first full year in the lightweight class.