MotoGP: Crutchlow set to battle through the pain

Double MotoGP race winner Cal Crutchlow is set to battle through the pain barrier this weekend at the final round of the 2016 season in Valencia, after a series of nasty crashes last time out in Malaysia left him battered and bruised.

In fact, Crutchlow has been left in even worse shape than he initially expected, after being diagnosed with a broken bone in his hand following a crash during Saturday morning’s free practice three at the Sepang circuit.

Speaking exclusively to MCN this week ahead of flying out to Spain for the final round, the LCR Honda rider admitted that he’d discovered even more injuries when he returned home to the Isle of Man following the three-week trip to Asia.

“My foot’s not too bad – but it is fucking sore! When the Malaysian doctors x-rayed it they said ‘no break, not a problem.’ But on the flight home it was killing me, even with it elevated – when I took my sock off it was black and swollen.

“I went to get it x-rayed when I got back to the Isle of Man, with the surgeon who’s just replaced David Knight’s hip. When he looked, the ball of my foot is in three pieces – it’s totally smashed. He didn’t want to operate on it though, because that area always get infected when you operate on it, and it’ll heal just as fast without surgery.

“He told me to go out cycling on it and that but to just take it easy, and that’s what I’ve been doing, along with the hyperbaric chamber. I couldn’t stand up on the pedals the first three days while cycling, but the last three days I have been able to, so it’s getting back to normal.”

But while the 31-year-old might be beaten up ahead of this weekend’s final race of the season, he says that it’s not going to change his game plan – even if it is going to be a tough weekend for him.

“It doesn’t change any plans – we’re still going to go out, go as hard as possible, and see what happens. It’s a tough weekend though, because everyone wants to win it and the Spanish are so fast there. But the last half of the season has gone well, wet and dry, and we can take something from that and hope it rolls forward into next year.”