Cal Crutchlow will miss the remainder of the San Marino Grand Prix after being declared unfit due to the lasting effects of the arm pump surgery he underwent last Tuesday.
The LCR Honda racer has been struggling with severe arm pump in his right arm as a consequence of having to overwork it as a result of the broken scaphoid he suffered in his left arm after a crash in warm-up for the Spanish GP in July.
He returned for the following week’s Andalucian GP at the same Jerez venue, but has struggled for form due to having rely so heavily on his right arm to hustle his already tricky Honda RC213-V machine, causing him to quickly develop arm pump.
The injury has continued to worsen in the races since, forcing the Brit to have surgery to alleviate the issue on Tuesday-a procedure he uploaded images of in order to illustrate the problems motorcycle racers have to deal with on a day to day basis.
He took part in both practice sessions on Friday at Misano-taking eighth and 18th on the timesheets across both sessions respectively- but excessive amounts of fluid within his arm as a result of the surgery meant the chance of infection was too great, forcing Crutchlow to miss the rest of the event.
Speaking to MotoGP Pit reporter Simon Crafar, LCR team boss Lucio Cecchinello confirmed Crutchlow would miss the San Marino contest, but that he would be “back as soon as possible.”
“As you know he had surgery on his right arm and there was production of a lot of fluid inside of the arm which is quite uncommon, unfortunately,” said Cecchinello.
“There was a serious risk of infection so Dr. Charte visited him this morning and he decided to declare Cal unfit and we, of course, have to understand the situation.
“The most important thing is that Cal fully recovers and can be back as soon as possible.”
Crutchlow currently sits 21st in the overall MotoGP riders championship standings as a result of his arm problems, his best result of 13th coming in both the Andalucian and Czech GP encounters, while he was only able to score a single point across the Austrian double-header races at the Red Bull Ring.
The three-time premier class winner currently remains ride-less heading into the 2021 MotoGP campaign as a result of losing his LCR berth to current factory Honda pilot Alex Marquez.
He has been linked with a possible move to Aprilia depending on what happens with Andrea Iannone’s pending doping ban appeal, while a Honda World Superbike switch is also thought to be on the table should a MotoGP chance not materialise.
