Cal Crutchlow (born October 29, 1985 in Coventry, England) is a professional Motor Cycle road racer. He is a former British Supersport champion and British Superbike race winner, and the 2009 supersport World Champion.
Contentsearly years British superbike champions (2007-2008) Supersport World Championship (2009) Superbike World Championship (2010) |
Early years
Although his father Derek was a racer, he did not become interested in the sport himself until age 11. He now holds a motorcycle licence for the road.He had football trials with Coventry city and Aston Villa as a youth, but chose to concentrate on motorcycle racing.Crutchlow won the UK Junior Challenge in 1999, and the Aprilia RS125 Challenge in 2001. He was runner-up in the 2003 YAMAHA R6 Cup behind Tommy Hill, who earned a factory sponsored ride in the British Superbike series for this achievement.
He won the British Supersport Championship in 2006, after a 3 year stint in the series in which he finished 3rd in 2005.
British Superbike Championship (2007–2008)
For 2007 he made his debut in the prestigious British Superbike Championship, with the Rizla Suzuki team alongside four-time runner-up Chris Walker. He took pole at Croft, and finished 9th overall after finishing the season with his first podium, third at Brands Hatch. For 2008 he moved to HM Plant Honda, sponsored by CIA Insurance. He took his first series win in race 2 at Thruxton. He took pole for round 3 at Oulton Park – he led race 1 before running wide in damp conditions, and crashed heavily out of 2nd place in race 2, injuring his ankle in the process. After initially having the better of team-mate Leon Haslam, Crutchlow was ultimately outpointed by him. He took two wins in the season, and finished 3rd overall in the championship, beating Tom Sykes by two points after the Yorkshireman had a late mechanical failure in the final round.Supersport World Championship (2009)
On 23 September 2008, it was confirmed that Crutchlow had signed a deal to ride for the Wilco Zeelenberg-managed Yamaha factory team in the 2009 world supersport championship. He finished in the top four at every race until a mechanical failure while leading at Brno, and found himself in a two-way championship dice with surprise package Eugene Laverty on a Parkalgar Honda. Crutchlow lead the championship easily until a gearbox failure while leading at Imola meant that Eugene Laverty moved to within 3 points. However, at Magny-Cours after an intense start it was Laverty's turn to have some bad luck, falling off, but picking his bike back up to leave him 19 points behind Crutchlow with 1 race at Portimão left. Laverty won in Portugal, but a fourth place by Crutchlow was enough to secure him the 2009 championship.Superbike World Championship (2010)
Silverstone Round in 2010 .