A MISERABLE season for Coventry rider Cal Crutchlow continued after he was forced to retire early in the Czech Republic MotoGP on Sunday.
The 28-year-old, who will ride for LCR Honda next year after his two-year Ducati contract was terminated a year early, crashed on lap two and failed to recover.
Crutchlow managed to re-join the race at the Brno track on Sunday but returned to the pits on lap 8 after picking up a shoulder injury.
“It was obviously a disappointing race to go out on lap 2.” said Crutchlow.
“I made a mistake in the braking in turn 3, had to avoid Aleix Espargarò in front of me and swerved off the track.
“I was disappointed for that because I was quite confident we could have had a not-so-bad battle today.
“But when I re-entered the track I had a sore shoulder from going through the gravel and holding onto the bike before it tipped over so there was no point carrying on with the pain and I preferred to save myself for Silverstone.”
Crutchlow will next be in action on the track on August 25-26 at Misano Adriatico for private testing before leaving for Silverstone where he will be hoping to make an impact on his home circuit on August 31.
