Cal Crutchlow confirmed for Silverstone MotoGP as Johann Zarco recovery continues

LCR Honda has confirmed that Cal Crutchlow will remain with the team for the Silverstone MotoGP on 7–9 August.

Crutchlow’s confirmation for the Silverstone race means, of course, that Johann Zarco’s recovery from the knee injuries he sustained at the Catalan Grand Prix in May will continue into the second half of the season, with the British MotoGP being the first race after the summer break.

Crutchlow has been filling in for Zarco ever since that Catalan crash, with his first ride with the LCR Honda squad coming at the following race at Mugello.

The British rider hadn’t raced since 2023 when he was Yamaha’s MotoGP test rider before that Italy race, but has remained with the Italian squad – for which he raced full-time from 2015 until his retirement from full-time racing at the end of 2020 – for the four races since then in Hungary, Czechia, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Crutchlow has not scored a point in his fill-in rides as yet, taking a best result of 16th at both Balaton Park and the TT Circuit Assen, while he retired at both Mugello and the Sachsenring.

The three-time MotoGP winner’s presence on the Silverstone grid in August will mark the first time a British rider has lined up for the premier class British Grand Prix since Crutchlow himself filled in for Franco Morbidelli at the RNF Yamaha team in 2021, with Britain having had no full-time rider in MotoGP since Crutchlow’s retirement at the end of 2020.

Crutchlow will of course share the LCR box once again with Diogo Moreira, the Brazilian MotoGP rookie currently lying 15th in the riders’ standings after taking a best result of sixth in Hungary, but having not been in the top-10 since that race at Balaton Park.