We were expecting to see Ben Spies on the Indianapolis podium after his strong practice sessions, but he got bottled up and pushed back and ended up having to ride through the pack to make up for the lost time, it was also nice to see that Yamaha hadn’t given any team orders (anyone happen to remember what went down in Yamaha after the 2010 Motegi race?) to the American regarding him passing his team mate.

Jorge Lorenzo’s race was more of an uphill struggle, unable to find anything good in the asphalt and in his front tires, leaving him with another major setback in trying to keep his title. He was so desperate to turn his weekend around that he admitted that even tried Colin Edwards and Ben Spies’ settings and final decided to use his team mate settings in the race, but his tires dropped off after the seventh lap and when he returned to his garage his Bridgestones were completely shot compared to Spies.

Ben Spies - 3rd

“My actual start wasn’t too bad, just a couple of people got into turn one too hot and I got bottled in. I think Dovi came across in front of me in turn four and I was just glad to stay on the bike. I never even saw him. After that happened we just had to pluck away and not get ahead of ourselves. We rode well but just needed to be up there in the first four turns. I rode as fast as I could; it was tough to pass out there as we couldn’t get it done on the straight so we had to figure out some different spots. I was happy to be able to do that and still run good pace at the end.”

Continue reading: Yamaha riders talk about their Indianpolis race

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What looked liked an almost compact front from the GP riders and paddock personnel to boycott the Motegi GP is now vacillating after the recent release of the ARPA study that concluded that radiation was ‘negligible.’

Herve Poncharal who has been the most outspoken team manager regarding the need to show support to the Japanese has announced that his Monster Yamaha Tech3 team with Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow will be racing at Motegi come October.

After carefully considering the findings of a detailed independent report commissioned by Dorna into the possible risk of radiation contamination in the area surrounding the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, Colin Edwards, Cal Crutchlow and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team can confirm that unless there is a change in circumstances, they will compete in the Japanese MotoGP race on October 2.

No doubt that with two riders having confirmed their decision, the others won’t take long to confirm their positions, even Jorge Lorenzo who has been against racing at Motegi from the start of the crisis.

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Cal Crutchlow was in serious doubt whether he’d be able take part in this weekend’s Assen GP after undergoing collarbone surgery just last week that left him in serious pain.

However, his pain level must have greatly diminished over these last few days and rehabilitation must be going well, because he’s tweeted “For update ! Yes I will ride at assen … see how I am on Thursday etc and go from there.”

With the Yamaha Tech3 rider attempting to ride the grid, will be back to sixteen riders with only Dani Pedrosa still uncertain whether he’ll be returning after missing the last two GP’s and undergoing a second surgery last Thursday.

It’ll also be interesting to see if Crutchlow will have anything to say to team mate Colin Edwards when he entertained fans at Silverstone with “I’d like to do her” referring to Crutchlow’s girlfriend Lucy.

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New Arai RX-7 replica helmets are available. Using the same Monster HJC R-PHA 10 Ben Spies replica helmet by Aldo Drudi, we get new Cal Crutchlow and Leon Haslam replicas. The Crutchlow helmet is based on the same RX-7 GP model the British has been wearing in this year’s MotoGP and last year’s Superbike season. The colours are typical of Monster Energy and include extra graphics by Aldo Drudi with flame lines and a glittery finish.

The Leon Haslam replica helmet is the same RX-7 GP model that the rider used when he came second in last year’s Superbike championship, and the same model that he’s using again this year. The design is also by Drudi and has a black gloss background and huge white “H” that adorns the front curvature of the helmet. Asymmetric floral graphics complete the design. Both replica helmets have a five-year guarantee and in sizing from XS to XXL, they costs about 949 euros each.

Crutchlow and Haslam replica helmets by Arai

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Cal Crutchlow has finally undergone surgery to repair his left collarbone that he fractured during qualifying at Silverstone after surgery was delayed for two days as doctors assessed a suspected non-displacement fracture of his C2 vertebrae.

Given the all clear after CAT scans showed no damage to his neck, the Yamaha Tech3 rider was transferred to the Royal Derby Hospital where he underwent surgery to have a titanium plate and several screws inserted in the shoulder.

Unfortunately Crutchlow reported that his break is a lot worse that the one suffered by team mate Colin Edwards, who raced to a third place podium at the Silverstone GP nine days after breaking his right collarbone. The American would have tried to race even the day after surgery in order not to break his 141 race starts record if the circuit doctors at Catalunya hadn’t nixed it. Edwards however, reported that he had no pain after surgery, quite different from his team mate’s current situation.

Continue reading: Cal Crutchlow undergoes surgery, Assen in doubt

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If last year it was broken legs in MotoGP, this year it’s fractured collarbones, with three MotoGP riders breaking them in less than four weeks. Dani Pedrosa in May and still out of action, a heroic Colin Edwards who broke his right one eight days ago, but it’s his ribs that are hurting him the most and none the less he was able to qualify 8th today and now Cal Crutchlow.

The British rider crashed out during his third lap in this afternoon’s qualifying session at Silverstone probably due to a cold tire and sustained a left collarbone fracture and a concussion and will be undergoing surgery at the Oxford Hospital later this evening or early tomorrow.

Hopefully plating Crutchlow’s collarbone will not create any problems to his left shoulder as the Yamaha Tech3 rider underwent shoulder surgery last December to repair damaged ligaments and tendons.

Continue reading: Cal Crutchlow to undergo surgery

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The visitor who comes from another galaxy Casey Stoner, scored another pole postion in today’s qualifying session at Silverstone his fourth of the season, while breaking Jorge Lorenzo’s last year pole position by 1.2 seconds, but he was pushed hard by Marco Simoncelli and Jorge Lorenzo in the dying minutes of the session.

Both the Italian and Spaniard vyied with the Australian for the pole position, but it was the Repsol Honda rider’s fourth sector that was untouchable and gave him the advantage of 0.188s over Simoncelli who took the second spot on the grid with Jorge Lorenzo in third, and a mere 0.029s from the Gresini rider.

Opening the second row will be Ben Spies, Andrea Dovizioso and the super surprise of the day Karel Abraham. The Czech rider was definitely the best Ducati rider on the grid with his sixth spot, even if he got a tow from Jorge Lorenzo.

The rookie not only beat out a Ducati veteran like Nicky Hayden (7th) and rookie but MotoGP veteran, Randy de Puniet (10th), but also a certain Valentino Rossi who could manage only a 13th spot, one of his worst qualifying sessions ever and in big, big trouble unable to solve any of the problems plaguing his GP11. There are going to be a lot of swearing, screaming and tears in the Ducati garage tonight, because Rossi was more than 3.7 seconds adrift from Stoner and if that doesn’t hurt, being outqualified by 1.3s by injured Colin Edwards (8th) on a satellite Yamaha will.

The collarbone sindrome struck again and this time it’s unlucky recipient was Yamaha Tech3 rider Cal Crutchlow. Just a week after team mate Colin Edwards fractured his collarbone, the Brit sustained the same injury after crashing in the opening minutes of the qualifying session and had to be stretchered out. Diagnosed with a left collarbone fracture and a concussion rules Crutchlow out of this GP and a leaves a grid with only 15 riders, again.

Continue reading: Casey Stoner in pole postion at Silverstone

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Yesterday’s Isle of Man TT second Monster Energy Supersport race Supersport race was red flagged after rain hit the iconic Mountain Course while Michael Dunlop was leading.

But earlier in the day fans were treated to the Arai parade lap that saw former five time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan, MotoGP’s Nicky Hayden and Cal Crutchlow and BSB rider Josh Brooks along with 2010 five time king of the IOMTT Ian Hutchinson, who was forced to sit out this year IOMTT due to a lingering leg injury sustained during his horrific 2010 crash at Silverstone, but that didn’t hold him back from doing the parade lap and pop a wheelie (check out the video after the jump).

Talking about the experience Mick Doohan later said that it one of his greatest experiences on a motorcycle, while Nicky Hayden riding a Ducati 1198 SP tweeted “Isle man TT is a bunch of softies…. JJ that place was wild I enjoyed my lap & seeing another form of racing those boys are hard as nails” and Cal Crutchlow who recently stated that he’d like to race in the TT when he retires from GP racing, went into a little more detail regarding his parade lap: “For people who want to know, end of mountain mile I had 189mph on clock of standard r1 which really means about 180 …! Pretty cool on roads…”

Continue reading: Arai Parade Lap with Mick Doohan, Nicky Hayden and Cal Crutchlow

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Shoulder surgery to repair ligaments and tendons in December 2010, lost his the tip of his little finger during practice session in Qatar, and now Cal Crutchlow has undergone surgery to solve the most common bane of most professional motorcycle racers, arm pump.

The British rider underwent surgery at the Policlinico di Modena to move the muscles in his right arm that were trapping nerves and causing numbness in his hand and arm. The Yamaha Tech3 rider will be followed by the Clinica Mobile staff and Dr. Costa and have his stitches removed in 12 days, just in time for the Estoril GP that starts April 29th.

“Since the start of the year I’ve had a problem with my arm muscles and nerves and my hand went numb when I was riding,” said Crutchlow. “It started in Sepang in testing and it occurs each time I ride the bike. Therefore we decided to do this operation to solve the issue, so I can be in 100 per cent physical condition for the rest of the season. With this break we have now, it was the perfect time to have the surgery and be assured that I can be back in peak condition for the next race in Portugal. At the moment I can’t feel two of my fingers, but the doctor said that is completely normal and that the feeling will come back very soon. They had to move the muscles from the nerves as the muscle was trapping the nerves and that’s why I was losing feeling in my hand and arm. The doctors said that in 12 days the stitches will come off and I will be able to ride in Portugal, so I’m really looking forward to riding the bike without the problem with my arm.”

Arm pump is so common amongst GP riders, that Toni Elias has had the same surgery something like three times so far, while Nicky Hayden underwent surgery for the same problem just two months ago.

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Cal Crutchlow lost the tip of left little finger during the final evening of pre-season testing after his hand got trapped under the handlebars of his M1.

The English rider is fortunately able to joke about on Twitter “Going to dinner with team! Visited shopping center for a while, not done much all day. Saw a manerkin & tried to get finger off but couldn’t…” but with just a couple of days between the test and the official practice that starts tonight, Crutchlow had to get Spidi do a rush job to create a special glove to accomodate his injured finger.

Spidi came up with this solution after the Yamaha Tech3 rider sent them photos of what’s left of his finger and the bandages wrapping the injury.

Source | bikernews.it

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Cal Crutchlow’s learning curve on the Yamaha M1, took a step backwards during the final night of testing at the Losail race circuit.

The Tech3 rider was one of the numerous riders who crashed and the only one who picked up a painful injury that could hamper his rookie MotoGP debut. Following a heavy crash at turn 10, his left hand got trapped under the handlebar of his M1 and the incident cost him the tip of his little finger, but fortunately he won’t be needing surgery.

“The test certainly didn’t end how I wanted and it is a real shame because we had made some changes to the balance of the bike that really helped my confidence with the front-end tonight. But I made a silly little mistake at Turn 10,” said Crutchlow. “I lost the rear and closed the throttle but then lost the front and I couldn’t get my left hand out from underneath the handlebar. I’ve basically taken the tip off my left little finger and it is really sore now. I don’t need surgery but it is obviously going to be uncomfortable this weekend for the race now. It is a shame because I was only 0.5s away from the top ten last night. I adapted to riding under the floodlights really quickly once I realised the shadows weren’t somebody trying to overtake me! I was confident of taking another step tonight and I’m sure I could have done without the crash.”

“It cost me nearly three hours of track time, which I can’t really afford to lose at this stage, but I’m still looking forward to my MotoGP debut. It will be an honour to line-up against this field on Sunday night and as always I’ll be giving it my best.”

Photo source | calcrutchlowforum

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Valentino Rossi is not taking part in today’s MotoGP testing at Sepang. The Italian champion woke up with a raging fever during the night and after visiting the Clinica Mobile for treatment, has decided to return to his hotel (confirmed by Alex Briggs) to see if he can recuperate enough to take part in the afternoon session.

A wise decision by the Ducatista, considering the searing temperatures and high humidity at the Malaysian track, who will have to wait a little longer before trying to figure out how to lower his lap times.

Cal Crutchlow is also sick, the Tech3 rider is suffering from the affects of food poisoning picked up on the flight over to Malaysia, and in his weakened state binned his M1 twice yesterday, finishing 15th overall.

Source | mcn.com and crash.net

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