Cal Crutchlow in fitness race for Assen

Cal Crutchlow is facing a race against time to be fit for the forthcoming Dutch Grand Prix at Assen having undergone successful surgery on the badly broken left collarbone he suffered at Silverstone last weekend The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider broke his left collarbone in five places in a high-speed accident during qualifying for his home race at the Silverstone circuit.

The 25-year-old had a titanium plate and several screws inserted in the shoulder during an operation carried out by specialist surgeon Doctor David Clark at the Royal Derby Hospital.

Surgery on the damaged collarbone had to be delayed while Crutchlow was assessed for a neck injury suffered in the crash. Initial checks at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford showed a suspected non-displacement fracture of his C2 vertebrae. But CAT scans showed no damage to his neck, and he was immediately transferred to the Royal Derby Hospital for surgery on his left collarbone.

He has already commenced an intensive course of physiotherapy but it is too early to make a decision on whether he will be recovered to race in Assen next weekend.
Crutchlow said his injury is more severe than the broken right collarbone suffered by American team-mate Colin Edwards during practice for the recent Catalunya race in Spain.

Edwards broke his collarbone in seven places and needed a titanium plate and 13 screws to fix it. But only nine days later, the 37-year-old produced a heroic ride to claim third in a rain-lashed British Grand Prix.

The 2009 World Supersport champion said: “The operation on my collarbone was a success and the doctors seems really happy with the outcome. But I am still in a lot of pain. Unfortunately, the break is a lot worse than the one my team-mate Colin Edwards had in Catalunya and I’ve got different pain and movement levels. And I’ve spent two days lying on my back with a suspected neck injury, so my shoulder just got swollen.

“I am not very happy that this had happened to me in my home race at Silverstone when things were going really well for the weekend and I don’t know if I will ride in Assen. We will have to wait and see, but I’ll be trying 100 per cent to be there if I can.”

On his personal Twitter page, Crutchlow added: “I am in a lot of pain, & just because Colin rode a week later it doesn’t mean I can. People asking about Assen, I just don’t know. My shoulder is really badly swollen as I had to lay flat on my back for 2 days with the neck…My break was worse & more difficult to repair… but in a few days I may feel ok. I will see but am not risking my health or anyone else’s to ride a circuit I already know!”