Crutchlow’s bulldog spirit produces British GP to remember

Defying a fractured and dislocated ankle, Cal Crutchlow produced a memorable performance in his home Grand Prix (Image | Getty)

There was, realistically, no way he should have been on the grid. BBC presenter Matt Roberts, commentators Charlie Cox and Steve Parrish – a former racer – and guests James Toseland (ex-MotoGP) and Tommy Hill (current British SuperBikes champion) all agreed that it was incredibly courageous but, potentially, incredibly dangerous.

And yet there was Cal Crutchlow, limping onto his Tech3 Yamaha and lining up dead last on the 20-bike MotoGP grid for the 2012 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

MotoGP set for more of the same as big name continues to struggle

Casey Stoner (#1) edged out rival Jorge Lorenzo (#99) for the win in Jerez (MotoGP.com)

Having missed the 2012 MotoGP curtain-raiser in Qatar, I was really looking forward to yesterday’s second event of the season in Jerez, the first of the two annual Spanish rounds of this currently Spanish-dominated competition.

And although I’ll concede there have definitely been improvements to the MotoGP structure with the addition of the new CRT-rules teams, essentially adding a second tier to the grid while new teams with different bikes adjust to the challenges of the world’s premier two-wheeled motorsport, the race was still light on… well, racing.