London - Britain’s sole MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow is doubtful for next week’s Dutch round at Assen after having a titanium plate and several screws inserted in his shoulder.
Yamaha said in a statement on Thursday that the Tech3 rider, who fell in qualifying for last weekend’s wet British Grand Prix at Silverstone, had broken his left collarbone in five places.
Surgery was delayed while the 25-year-old was assessed for a neck injury, with scans then showing no damage.
“Crutchlow has already started the recovery process with intensive physiotherapy, but it is too early to know whether the 2009 World Supersport champion will be fit to participate in the Dutch Grand Prix,” Yamaha said.
Crutchlow said doctors were happy with how the surgery had gone but he was still in a lot of pain. “Unfortunately, the break is a lot worse than the one my team–mate Colin Edwards had in Catalunya and I’ve got different pain and movement levels,” he said.
“I’ve spent two days lying on my back with a suspected neck injury, so my shoulder just got swollen...I don’t know if I will ride in Assen. We will have to wait and see, but I’ll be trying 100% to be there if I can.”
American team–mate Edwards finished third at Silverstone, little more than a week after the 37-year-old broke his right collarbone in Barcelona in practice for the Catalan GP.
In Madrid, doctors have told Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa he needs a second operation on his broken collarbone.
“During the rehabilitation process ... a very small fragment of bone moved, therefore to aid faster healing doctors will proceed to fix this fragment,” his Repsol Honda team said on Thursday.
The injury-prone 25-year-old first underwent surgery when he had a titanium plate inserted in his collarbone after a fall in the French GP at Le Mans last month.
Pedrosa missed his home race in Barcelona and the British Grand Prix and is fifth in the championship standings on 61 points after six races.
Team–mate Casey Stoner of Australia leads the way on 116 points with champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain on 98 in second. Italian Andrea Dovizioso is third with 83.
The next race in Holland is on June 25. – Reuters
Source: http://thestar.com.my