> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.the-race.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Why Crutchlow turned down MotoGP return - then changed his mind - URL: https://www.the-race.com/motogp/why-crutchlow-turned-down-motogp-return-then-changed-his-mind/ - Published: 2026-05-28T14:46:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-05-28T14:46:40.000Z - Description: Cal Crutchlow has explained why he is returning to MotoGP competition having originally rejected the offer - Author: Valentin Khorounzhiy - Tags: MotoGP, #LCR Cal Crutchlow has explained why he is [returning to MotoGP competition](https://www.the-race.com/motogp/cal-crutchlow-motogp-return-zarco-replacement-lcr-honda-reunion/) at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello this weekend - after having originally rejected the offer. Crutchlow, who last raced in MotoGP in 2023 as a Yamaha wildcard, will ride as replacement for the injured Johann Zarco - who sustained significant damage to his knee in a crash at Barcelona a fortnight ago. No timeline has been published, but [Zarco's injuries suggest a lengthy recovery](https://www.the-race.com/motogp/johann-zarco-ligament-surgery-wait-horrific-barcelona-motogp-crash/) before he can reclaim the #5 LCR Honda - and LCR had no easy stand-in solutions. This led to a call to the retired Crutchlow, whose comeback was rubber-stamped after a preparatory test at Misano on Wednesday. Crutchlow said that after he got the call from LCR, he "went home and \[my wife\] Lucy said, 'did Dako \[Dakota Mamola, LCR team coordinator\] call you? And I said, 'yeah'. "She said 'oh, yeah, because they called me first'! To get the blessing. "And I said, 'I'm not interested'. And she said, ‘why not?’ She said, 'you've done it your whole life, so I don't understand why you're not doing it'." Crutchlow then mulled it over for a few hours before getting back to LCR. He told media his wife's insistence was a major reason why. "I mean, she's been by my side my whole career, as we know. And I made decisions with her and she said to me - the words were, 'your life and our life has been an adventure our whole life. So why are we stopping now?' So 'I said, OK, I'm going'." ## Only for LCR Crutchlow also insisted, however, that Lucio Cecchinello’s LCR squad - with which he spent six seasons in MotoGP and took all three of his MotoGP wins - was the only team in the paddock with which he'd come back. "I wouldn't have done it for another team. If the factory Ducati team rang me, I wouldn't have done it. If Aprilia rang me, I wouldn't have done it. "I did it because Lucio and the team asked me to do it." But he also insisted the possibility of a private test in the lead-up was a crucial prerequisite. "If not, it's not right to come here after so long not riding and go into FP1 at 360km/h into Turn 1, you know?" Crutchlow did not want to elaborate too much on whether he expected to do more rounds if anything goes well - though this was mostly because of "the situation with Johann, he is my friend". "So I hope to see him soon." ## The shock of the test Crutchlow described the Misano test day as "not great, to be honest" because "everything was strange - but this was to be expected". "I expected to be slower than what I was - but when I was not fast enough, I was pissed off." He said the initial touch with the bike was "the biggest shock". "I had the lap timer \[on\] -and I knew the laptime when I did when I was on the podium in Misano. "And if I didn't look at the lap timer, when I was riding, I \[would've\] thought 'there is nobody can go around this track faster than me. Ever. It's f\*\*king impossible. You know, I'm completely at the limit. Nobody will go faster than me.' "And I was 10 seconds too slow. This was in the first lap. And I looked down, I came in - I was thinking, 'I don't know whether to ask them whether the lap timer is broken or I just keep quiet for a minute'. "But over the day, obviously, everything improved. "They \[the new MotoGP bikes\] are hard to ride. But I don't think they are any harder. It's just hard with the amount of time I've had not riding. It's as simple as that."