Crutchlow: “There were times I thought I’d never ride again”


Three months after his Phillip Island crash, the British rider spoke to MCN about his injury and the tough road to recovery

Three months have now passed since Cal Crutchlow’s (LCR Honda Castrol) horrendous Turn 1 crash at Phillip Island which left him with bad multiple fractures to his right ankle and leg.

In an interview with British publication Motor Cycle News, the three-time Grand Prix winner explains the extent of his injury and the long, tough road to recovery since undergoing multiple surgeries.

“I knew at the start it was a bad injury, and my surgeon told me afterwards how close they were to fusing it because of how bad the fracture was,” began Crutchlow. “It’s called a Pilon fracture and it’s basically the worst you can have as it’s caused by rotational forces. They had to reconstruct the talus, and that’s what they were most worried about.

“That part has gone really well though. I’ve got two plates on my tibia, one on the inside and one on the centre, but they didn’t plate my fibula and that’s what seems to be causing the pain I’m suffering from now. But there just wasn’t the room to plate it.

“As a bike racer, you think you’re going to come back in two weeks and be able to ride again, but it’s now been nine weeks and I can only just walk, and even when I do I’m still in pain. If you read up on Pilon fractures, it’s 12 months before some can even walk again or they need more operations or have more pain. It’s healed miraculously when you consider that now I’m able to do 25-hour weeks on my bicycle without any pain at all.”

It goes without saying the injury has seriously affected Crutchlow’s off-season training, but he’s been doing everything he can in order to be as fit as possible for the Sepang Test on 6-8 February.

“It’s been a hard three months,” explains the number 35 rider. “I’ve had big injuries before but nothing on this scale. There have been times when I honestly thought I’d never be able to ride again. But I always had the desire to carry on training, to carry on going to physio. I had the mental state to stay competitive and want to race in MotoGP again.

“Don’t get me wrong; there were times I thought the ankle was never going to get better. They came in the middle of the recovery, not at the end. I was still riding my bicycle, but I couldn’t walk and I was in a lot of pain. I’ve lost a lot of movement.”

Crutchlow goes on to admit that he’s had a “great winter despite the injury,” and being in California over the winter has “made a big difference.” But what is the 33-year-old’s targets for the start of the season?

“I’m under no illusions or pressure because I have no goal for the start of the season. That’s what I’ve discussed with Honda and with the team. So my goal at the test is to go, get on my bike and just enjoy riding again… I’m not going into it thinking I need to be in the top five at the first test. I need to go there and learn to ride and understand the bike and to give them information, and if that means I’m 15th then I’ll be 15th. But I don’t intend to be 15th all year, I intend to go back and win races.”

You can read the full in-depth interview with Crutchlow in the latest edition of MCN.  - MotoGP

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