MotoGP hits ‘PAUSE’
Series kicks-off in Qatar without MotoGP class – but where does it go now amidst Covid-19 lockdown?
‘All I can do is make sure I’m prepared for when the phone rings’
Cal Crutchlow says the uncertainty about when his 10th season in MotoGP will finally get underway is proving one of the strangest experiences in his long racing career. The British LCR Honda rider and his MotoGP rivals have been left in limbo by the global outbreak of coronavirus, with 2020’s first two races in Qatar and Thailand scrapped and further chaos to the calendar seeming inevitable as the Covid-19 crisis worsens.
Crutchlow confirmed to MCN that every MotoGP rider had been told about the Qatar cancellation in a personal phone call from Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta.
The 34-year-old was notified just hours before he was due to fly to Doha for the season opener. Now, with no sign of any imminent racing action, the three-time MotoGP winner had has flown to his California base near San Diego to participate in an extra unexpected warm weather training camp with wife Lucy and daughter Willow.
Speaking exclusively to MCN he said: “We prepared all winter and I was ready to race physically and mentally. But when it’s taken away through unfortunate but totally understandable circumstances it’s a little bit demotivating because right now we have no idea when the first race will be. I didn’t think we would go to Thailand but it was a shock when I realised we weren’t going to Qatar. The situation isn’t great for the whole world. I did everything I could to be ready for the season but now we’ve been left completely in limbo. All I can do is make sure I’m prepared for when the phone rings telling me we’re racing again.”
The option of extending the season into December is also not without complications. He said: “Racing in December is not easy for the factories because at that time they are flat-out getting bikes prepared for the following season and so many riders have injuries that need fixing and time to recover. It’s just the big uncertainty about so many things.”