THE CAL CRUTCH-SHOW
He splits opinions like Marmite, but there’s no doubting that the relentless bugger from Coventry is a talent on two wheels. Whether you love him or loathe him (which surprisingly, some people do), there’s no ignoring him and after being the first Brit to lead the World Championship since Bazza Sheene about a billion years ago, you really can’t doubt him. But what makes Cal so special? Well, its the fact that he rose through our very own ranks (BSB et al), and managed to convert his superbike-style experience into a MotoGP race-winning reality mainly. And when you look at the fact that the late, great Nicky Hayden was the only other real superbike rider to properly break the mould from production bikes into prototype racing, that’s no mean feat. If you’re a bit like us and have been glued to the GP coverage this year you’ll know that after an incredible start to the 2018 season, things have been pretty tough for Crutchlow and the works-backed LCR Honda squad, with a few crashes giving his championship hopes a royal battering (that one at Le Mans looked particularly painful). But no-one’s perfect, right?
Aiming high
Which is exactly why there’s still hope for our speedy Brit, who’s shown his toughness and grit on untold occasions. We like Cal, because he’s tenacious. He’s the kind of guy that doesn’t take no for answer, and when there’s something he wants to do, he makes it happen. And God help you if you try and get in his way. Here’s a guy that had a pretty humble intro to two-wheeled shenanigans, scrapping it out with the likes of Leon Camier and Tommy Hill in the R6 Cup on converted street bikes – much unlike his current contemporaries who werespanned BSB, World Superbike and now MotoGP, we just had to get his take on the future, the past and the present. So in his own words, here’s what Cal had to tell us when we cajoled him for a natter. The first question on the horizon was whether he ever imagined he’d get where he is? “It was always the plan to be in the top class,” came his smirking response.
