Crutchlow has more x-rays on injured ankle ahead of Australian MotoGP round

The Yamaha test rider hurt his right ankle in a nasty crash in second practice for the Thailand MotoGP race a fortnight ago.

While checks immediately following the crash revealed no bones were broken, Crutchlow has been managing significant pain since.

That prompted the Brit to visit the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne earlier this week for further scans on the ankle.

While unable to see the surgeon who operated on his right ankle after it was badly broken at Phillip Island in 2018, Alfred staff were at least able to confirm that this latest crash hadn’t done any further damage.

“I went to see the doctors yesterday,” said Crutchlow.

“I went for some x-rays in Melbourne at the hospital where I had the operation, just to check, because they could get a lot more information and then put it parallel to my operation.

“We think that the bruising has been inflaming the soft tissue and the nerve. Because if I even push in some areas in my foot it is so sore, foot and ankle, and it’s still quite [bruised].

“I had a good 20 hours on the bicycle last week, so it’s not like I can’t do anything, but it’s sore. When I did it, I was fine, [on] the [Thailand] race weekend. But it was after, the comedown, that it was sore.

“If I move it in a certain way it’s so painful. But nothing is badly damaged, let’s say. I was concerned the plate had moved or something like that. But luckily it’s okay.”

Crutchlow added that the true test of his fitness will come once track action for the Australian GP, the first since 2019, kicks off at Phillip Island on Friday.

“We’ll see this weekend when the bike is shaking at… I was going to say 350 km/h, but ours will be about 320 km/h,” he said.

“The adrenaline is the best thing for it.”

Crutchlow did at least get a week off riding to rest the injury thanks to a proposed Yamaha test being called off, having been set for an eight-week stretch of running on the M1 from the moment he was drafted in at Aragon to replace the retired Andrea Dovizioso.

“We had a planned test that was not a test in the end,” he said. “It was nice because it gave me a week off.

“I was supposed to do eight weeks in a row, and now it’s seven [from eight].”