– The recent MotoGP race weekend at the Grand Prix of Italy in Mugello featured two replacement riders in the 22-strong starting field. At Gresini-Ducati, Michele Pirro stepped in for Alex Marquez, who has been injured since Barcelona, while at LCR-Honda, Cal Crutchlow replaced Johann Zarco, who has also been injured since Barcelona.
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In the sprint on Saturday, Pirro finished 18th, second to last, and Crutchlow 19th, last classified. In the Grand Prix on Sunday, Pirro was 19th, last classified, while Crutchlow retired after 13 of 23 laps because he was physically exhausted after two and a half years away from MotoGP.
Nevertheless, the LCR team confirmed on Monday that the 40-year-old Briton will again replace Zarco at the upcoming Grand Prix of Hungary at Balaton Park. At Gresini, however, a different replacement rider will surprisingly take over for Alex Marquez at the Hungary weekend.
Crutchlow as Zarco replacement in Mugello: Gap gradually reduced
But first, about Crutchlow and his Mugello weekend. His previous last MotoGP race was the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi, where he rode an additional factory Yamaha (wildcard entry) as a Yamaha test rider at the time. Last weekend in Mugello, Crutchlow competed again for LCR-Honda for the first time since the 2020 MotoGP season finale in Portimao.
The basis for the entry was a test Crutchlow completed on the Wednesday before the Mugello weekend in Misano. In Mugello, the Briton improved from session to session. In the first free practice on Friday morning, Crutchlow was 3.6 seconds behind the leader and 1.8 seconds behind the second to last. In the Friday afternoon practice, he was 3.2 seconds behind the leader and 1.2 seconds behind the second to last.
When asked about his gap, Crutchlow replied on Friday: “Before the weekend, I would have been happy with that, now I am pissed off. I really had a good feeling on the bike and it became immediately clear that the bike is better than me. That is the reality at the moment.”
Although the returnee said on Friday that “the ergonomics on this bike are not perfect for me,” nothing could be changed about that at this point. “I feel comfortable riding, but physically I was really exhausted towards the end of the session. When I ride at a certain pace, everything is fine. But when I push, I lack strength.”
What challenged Crutchlow most during his comeback
Crutchlow highlighted the direction changes as particularly challenging after two and a half years away from MotoGP: “Here in Mugello, the direction changes are especially difficult because they are done with the throttle wide open. That’s where I lose all my time. If they are slow direction changes, I manage. I’m just not physically in the condition I used to be. But that will come back the longer I ride.”
On Saturday, Crutchlow started with a 2.9-second gap to the leader and 0.9 seconds behind the second to last in the second free practice. In qualifying, he was 2.5 seconds behind the fastest in Q1 and 1.1 seconds behind the second to last. This led into the first of two races of the weekend, the sprint on Saturday afternoon.
Crutchlow completed the sprint. After the 11-lap distance, his gap was 39.6 seconds to the leader and 12.6 seconds to the second to last. Converted to gap per lap, that corresponds to 3.6 seconds to the leader and 1.1 seconds to the second to last.
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After the 11-lap race, Crutchlow was “undoubtedly even more exhausted” than after the Friday sessions. In this context, he revealed on Saturday that “my shoulder and arm are currently limiting me the most.” That he finished last in the sprint, as in all previous sessions, was no surprise to him: “I expected that and so did the team. But I was consistent. I just need to ride more.”
Retirement on Sunday on medical advice, but another entry in Hungary
That was supposed to lead into the second race of the weekend, the Grand Prix on Sunday. Before that could happen, Crutchlow had another realization. “Unfortunately, something happened to my shoulder during the warm-up in the morning. There was a check at the medical center and we could see an injury. So I did what I was advised.”
Result: Crutchlow retired from the Grand Prix after 13 laps of the 23-lap distance due to muscle pain. “The team knew about the situation. Of course, I wanted to finish the race, but it was not possible. I’m not happy because I really felt good. I felt as good as I did all weekend. My lap times were significantly better than in the sprint.”
“Actually,” Crutchlow revealed after the Grand Prix, “my plan was to come into the pits after three laps. Then I rode five laps, then eight, and in the end, it was more than ten. Basically, I rode half a race on Saturday and half on Sunday. So I completed one race, but in two halves.”
After Crutchlow underwent another medical check on Monday, LCR-Honda officially confirmed that he will again replace the injured Johann Zarco at the upcoming Grand Prix of Hungary at Balaton Park.
Gresini-Ducati in Hungary: Iker Lecuona replaces Alex Marquez
At Gresini-Ducati, however, Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will not be used again as a replacement for the injured Alex Marquez in Hungary. Instead, according to the team’s announcement on Tuesday, they have decided on Iker Lecuona. The Spaniard is racing this year for the Ducati factory team in the Superbike World Championship and is currently second in the championship behind teammate and season dominator Nicolo Bulega.
The upcoming weekend at Balaton Park will mark Lecuona’s MotoGP comeback. He made his debut in the premier class of motorcycle racing at the 2019 season finale in Valencia for Tech3-KTM. Afterwards, he raced two full seasons (2020 and 2021) for the French team.
In 2022, Lecuona started in the Superbike World Championship for the first time but returned in 2023 as a replacement rider for seven MotoGP races. As a Honda rider, he replaced the injured Marc Marquez, Joan Mir, and Alex Rins (LCR-Honda) at different points in the season. At Gresini, Lecuona will sit on a MotoGP Ducati for the first time next weekend, specifically on the current GP26.
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