How does a MotoGP winner stay motivated when they are finishing last?

Cal Crutchlow admits “I can’t do any better than what I’m doing” in his current MotoGP stand-in stint with LCR Honda, but is “getting off quite happy” after every session.

The three-time MotoGP race winner has been called up by LCR to replace the injured Johann Zarco, who is set to undergo an operation on his knee in the coming weeks following a crash at the Catalan Grand Prix.

Cal Crutchlow hasn’t raced full-time since retiring at the end of 2020, with his last wildcard appearance coming with Yamaha in 2023.

The Briton rode at Mugello and Balaton Park, and will continue at Brno and Assen.

In three of the four races he has finished so far, he has taken the chequered flag in last place, while also qualifying at the back of the grid.

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, Crutchlow was asked about what is motivating him from session to session.

“Motivation? I don’t know; I’ve always been motivated to improve myself, like in my career,” he began.

“I didn’t care where I finished a lot of the time in my career.

“Of course, I wanted to win or battle or be at the front.

“But if I got off and I knew that I have my 100%, then I was happy, and if that was 15th, then so be it.

“I was always like that. If I knew I couldn’t have done any more, even if Marc [Marquez] had won with the Honda, and I was 15th, and I thought I’d done my best, I was happy.

“So, it’s the same situation now. I can’t do any better than what I’m doing, so I’m getting off quite happy, let’s say, and that’s just the way it is.

“But I know if I’d done 7000km this year, it would be a lot easier, and every time you ride you get better.

“You’ll understand more, you’ll ride in a different way, you’ll carry more corner speed, you won’t have to open as much on the exit.

“It’s the kind of thing that with time, it will just get better. It’s like a rider with an injury: when they come back, the first bit they’re struggling, and then they ride more, and they understand more.

“Or a rookie, even. At the start, the rookie is four seconds off, and now the rookie is in the top 10. So, you have to look at it like that.”