Cal Crutchlow has revealed he will “try to ride with” a shoulder problem in his second weekend back on a MotoGP bike in Hungary.
The Briton suffered a muscle tear near his left scapula following last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, caused by excessive stress on his shoulder after three years away from active competition.
With the Balaton Park race following immediately after as part of a double header, Crutchlow had limited time at his disposal to recover at home.
The 40-old-year old stopped short of revealing the exact nature of his shoulder injury, but said it isn’t serious enough to require an operation and force him out of the weekend at this stage.
“After the race, I stayed in Italy and went for some MRI scans, got the diagnosis and understood what the problem was. But I’m here in Hungary so…
Asked if he could ride with the issues, he replied: “I can try and ride with it. Obviously, in the race, I actually didn't feel too bad, but I knew it was not possible to finish the last race.
“Do I think it's got any better? Potentially, but it's not a thing that will get better overnight. Luckily, it's not a surgery thing, which is good, because I don't need that at 40 years old, but it is the way it is.”
Learning the track
Crutchlow’s task is made harder by the fact that he has never ridden around the Balaton Park Circuit, while the majority of his rivals were present during last year’s returning Hungarian GP.
This means that the LCR Honda rider, who is again replacing the injured Johann Zarco, will have to dedicate significant time to learning the track in Friday practice instead of saving his energy for the business part of the weekend.
“It's going to be difficult, challenging, because I don't know the circuit, I've never been here, but maybe that's, like I said before in the TV interview, I believe this will be a more challenging weekend, because I don't know the circuit.
“There was no expectation anyway at [Mugello], but I knew Mugello, so it was easier in that sense. Mugello was a lot more physical; here it is probably not as physical. A lot of change in direction, but lower speed.”
He added: “I need to learn the track, so it won't be a fewer laps thing. I'll get 45 minutes in the morning and then in the afternoon you start to hyperventilate because everyone's throwing 15 tyres in to get into Q2, but luckily I'm never going to get into Q2, so it don't f**ing matter; I can just continue to ride around.”
'I'm okay with finishing last'
Although there will be another MotoGP returnee on the grid this weekend, with World Superbike star Tech3 rider Iker Lecuona substituting for Alex Marquez at LCR Honda, Crutchlow approaches the event from a different position, having been away from full-time racing for several years.
As such, he is open about his expectations for this weekend, focusing on improving his lap times rather than outright results.
“I'll see how it is. I know I'll be last in every session, I know that I'll be last on the grid and I know I'll finish last, and I'm okay with that because this is a building process,” he said.
“But we were actually really pleased with how much I went, the team, myself and Honda, because I sat so long off the bike to be able to jump back on and do a respectable lap times, it was okay, I was pleased enough.”
