2018 Phillip Island MotoGP Saturday News

Michael Scott | October 27, 2018

All photos by Gold & Goose

Crutchlow’s Season May be Over

Factory Honda rider Cal Crutchlow is almost certain to be out for the rest of the season, after a complicate ankle fracture will require more surgery later this week.

The LCR Castrol teamster, contracted directly to HRC, will have to wait until the inflammation to the right ankle fracture has gone down before full corrective surgery, which is to predicted to be a few days after tomorrow’s race.

The 32-year-old winner of this year’s Argentine GP crashed yesterday at Turn One, which is approached at more than 320 km/h and taken at around 200. He lost control right at the entry, still travelling at very high speed, and was stretchered away.

A triple ankle fracture was diagnosed, medically termed “a bimalleolar fracture and anterior tibia part right ankle fracture”, and he was transferred to hospital in Melbourne.

The joint has been externally immobilised, but surgery will have to wait.

Surgery Slated for Marquez

New World Champion Marc Marquez is due to have surgery on his oft-dislocated left shoulder in early December, giving him the full six weeks recovery time before testing begins for next year.

The joint popped out after a not especially vigorous congratulatory hug from former Moto2 rival Scott Redding on the slow-down lap after he had secured his fifth MotoGP title at Motegi, but was immediately relocated by his brother and a friend, who had been waiting trackside.

It was, Marquez said, a regular event, that now needed to be fixed. It had also happened in practice at the British GP in 2013, “and many times when I am training”.

Marquez was wearing special “Mick Doohan” gloves and boots, with the Australian flag as a motif, in tribute at Doohan’s to the rider who had previously won five premier-class titles on a Honda.

But he was treating the race “just like any other weekend,” he said, even though he had already achieved personal success.

The next goal is to help Honda win the Constructors Championship and Repsol Honda the Teams crown, the coveted triple-header. To do the former he has to finish three points ahead of the best Ducati. The situation is more complicated in the contest between the teams. If teamsters finish first and second they can score a maximum of 45 points, thus there are still 135 points available for the last three races. Before tomorrow’s race, the Repsol squad has 51 more points than Movistar Yamaha; and 67 more than Ducati. Most of the factory Honda team’s points have come from Marquez, with team-mate Pedrosa making a significantly smaller contribution.

Awards Still Up for Grabs

The other two awards at stake – Rookie of the Year and top Independent-Team Rider – are not official championships, but just as meaningful to candidates.

The latter is closely contested, with Cal Crutchlow’s second at Motegi extending his lead to 15 points. But his Friday crash has put a big dent in his chances of that lead surviving, and now the battle is between Monster Yamaha’s Johann Zarco and Alma Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci, equal on 133 points apiece to Crutchlow’s 148.

They lie sixth and seventh overall. The next-best independent-team rider is Jack Miller, placed 13th on 74 points.

The Rookie prize is under dispute between reigning Moto2 champion Franco Morbidelli (EG-VDS Honda) and Monster Yamaha rider Hafizh Syahrin, with the Italian holding a four-points advantage. Morbidelli has been more consistent, with 11 finishes in the top 15 scoring positions to Syahrin’s seven; but in the last two races the Malaysian has scored better. It was the same in qualifying, with Syahrin bouncing back from a very fast morning crash to place an impressive tenth, evading Q1 from the first time; while Morbidelli could not escape from Q1, and will start 15th.

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