Cal Crutchlow admits he was ‘mad’ to make MotoGP comeback at Italian Grand Prix

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LCR stand-in Cal Crutchlow failed to reach the chequered flag at the end of his comeback MotoGP weekend in Italy.

In a shocking move, LCR approached Crutchlow, who hadn’t raced since the 2023 Japanese GP, to deputise for the injured Johann Zarco this weekend.

It looked as if the 40-year-old’s racing career was over after he left his Yamaha test rider role last year. He had been struggling with a prolonged hand injury, which made his return even more surprising.

Cal Crutchlow: Only I would say yes to ‘mad’ MotoGP return

Given the length of his absence, Crutchlow’s performance was commendable. He was predictably the slowest rider in qualifying, but he lapped within a second of three-time World Superbikes champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and was 1.8 adrift of regular Honda rider Luca Marini.

He made it to the end of Saturday’s Sprint race, finishing 19th after three retirements further up the road. The Briton was 12.5 seconds adrift of Michele Pirro in P18, but his feedback was likely more important than his lap times.

Crutchlow suffered from arm pump during the weekend, which may have been why he retired after 12 out of 23 laps. He was applauded back into the LCR garage.

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Speaking to TNT Sports earlier in the weekend, Crutchlow admitted that he was ‘mad’ to return for an 180th start, particularly given the nature of the Mugello circuit.

He said: “The thing is, [LCR boss] Lucio [Cecchinello] is mad, and I’m mad. That’s what swung it. Only he would do something like that, call me, and only I would say yes.

• READ MORE: Cal Crutchlow explains why he changed his mind on MotoGP return with LCR at Mugello

“So I thought, ‘We’ll give it a go.’ Only our luck would be that it comes to Mugello, the hardest one on the whole calendar, with the 370kph straight, all the changes of direction.”

With Johann Zarco’s absence due to be long-term, Aleix Espargaro also injured and Takaaki Nakagami not keen to ride, it remains to be seen whether Crutchlow features again in Hungary next weekend.