Cal Crutchlow Signs for Two More Years with LCR Honda

First, it was Bradley Smith, today it is Cal Crutchlow. On Wednesday, the LCR Honda team announced that Cal Crutchlow will be riding with the team for two more seasons. The deal will see Crutchlow staying with LCR for 2016, giving him an option to stay on for 2017 as well.

Crutchlow’s deal has been a long time coming. Talks were started as early as Barcelona, with Crutchlow looking for a two-year extension with LCR.

Honda was keen to keep Crutchlow within the ranks, as the Englishman has been able to provide valuable feedback to HRC for the RC213V.

With Honda having taken a wrong path for this season, having an extra rider to provide development input has been important. Crutchlow’s results have been solid this year, including a podium at Argentina, though he has also found himself in the gravel a number of times.

There had been a brief flirtation with Pramac Ducati, Crutchlow entering talks with the satellite Ducati team about racing for the Italian factory once again. This, however, appears to have been more of a bargaining chip to use with Honda, rather than a serious attempt to return to the fold at Bologna.

With Crutchlow and Smith now signed up ahead of Silverstone, the question is whether more British riders will announce their futures this weekend.

Danny Kent had been linked to the Pramac Ducati ride at Brno, but since then, the Moto3 championship leader has had competition from Scott Redding, who has struggled with the Honda RC213V and has happy memories of testing the Desmosedici.

Sam Lowes has a pre-contract with Aprilia, though there have been some suggestions that Aprilia may be looking elsewhere.

Kent, Redding and Lowes are less likely to make their announcement at Silverstone, as talks for Kent and Redding are still at an early stage, and Aprilia are more likely to wait until their home GP at Misano to make an announcement.

Moto3 rider John McPhee is still in early talks with a number of Moto3 teams.

This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.