Marco Bezzecchi
Cal Crutchlow enjoyed a fruitful 12-year MotoGP career with three different manufacturers, winning two races along the way.
Nowadays, there are no full-time British MotoGP riders on the grid, and Crutchlow was the last of them, having called quits on his time in the premier class at the end of 2020. He finished 18th at the end of the campaign, with a best result of eighth.
From time to time, he’s now seen contributing to TNT Sports’ coverage of the championship, but he’s best remembered for giving the British fans something to cheer for throughout the 2010s.
Jack Miller feared leaving a race alive after a crash with Crutchlow back in his rookie season in 2015, following a collision in front of his home fans in Silverstone. Just recently, he departed his role as a test rider for Yamaha, but there has been no confirmation of his next move.
READ MORE: Cal Crutchlow reveals the superb message he sends Jack Miller after every MotoGP race
Mat Oxley says Cal Crutchlow decided to ‘risk it all’ by leaving World Superbikes for MotoGP
In his first season, Crutchlow was awarded Rookie of the Year honours after finishing 12th in the standings with Tech3.
Considering the jump he made from the World Superbike Championship, it didn’t take him much time to get up to speed.
Mat Oxley has now recalled the ‘wonderful story’ behind his ascension to MotoGP, and how he left a ‘good’ career opportunity behind to chase a dream.
“You look at Crutchlow,” he said. “He was absolutely thrown in at the deep end, and he just came out fighting, you know, all arms swinging, didn’t he? There’s a wonderful story.
“So, Crutchlow won the World Supersport Championship, came from BSB, into the World Supersport, won the championship in 2009, promoted to World Superbike, with some guy called Peter Bom as his data guy.
“[He] was promoted to World Superbike the next year, and he could have had a good career in World Superbike for the rest of his career, earning probably half a million plus. He was like, ‘No, I’m going to risk it all and go to MotoGP.'”
How did Cal Crutchlow perform in the World Superbike Championship before his MotoGP switch?
Before making the bold move to MotoGP, Crutchlow had a stellar first full-time season in World Superbikes.
Towards the end of the campaign, he really started to come along strongly, finishing in the top three in six of his last eight races, winning three of them.
It was enough for him to finish fifth in the standings, but it’s not unrealistic to think that a title charge might have been on the following season.
Unfortunately, he never quite got the factory opportunity to showcase his talents for a title push, and was competing against the likes of Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, and Jorge Lorenzo for much of his career.
Otherwise, that version of Crutchlow could have found himself in contention for a title, had he been on a better bike.
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