“Arm is the size of a leg…” - Cal Crutchlow out of San Marino MotoGP

Cal Crutchlow has been forced to withdraw from the San Marino MotoGP at Misano after doctors declared him unfit due to complications from a recent surgery.

The LCR Honda rider underwent arm pump surgery during the break between races, but despite doctors establishing a ‘hole’ so deep he can see the muscle, fluid stopped draining from the wound after riding on Friday.

While Crutchlow insists he wasn’t too uncomfortable on the Honda en route to the 20th best time in FP2, with his arm ‘swelling to the size of most people’s leg’, doctors are concerned to the extent they have declared him unfit.

“After this morning’s medical check, LCR Honda CASTROL rider Cal Crutchlow has been declared unfit for this weekend’s Gran Prix Lenovo di San Marino e Della Riviera di Rimini due to secondary side effects following the surgery on his forearm,” read a statement from Dorna.

“The fluid doesn’t seem to be coming out like it has been. The arm is really swollen, probably the size of most people's leg," Crutchlow said, speaking on Friday.

"Riding the bike I feel not so bad but it can't continue to be like this, because it's just getting bigger every single time I ride and the doctors are concerned about why the fluid is now not coming out.

"Over the last two weeks the fluid has been coming out of the hole. The hole is still there but now the fluid is not coming out. So not a good situation. The arm is just massive. Incredibly swollen."

It is another major blow for Crutchlow - missing his second race of six through injury - and HRC, which is already competing without its lead rider in Marc Marquez.

It also puts Crutchlow - who is without a ride for 2021 and is already bottom in the overall standings of the full-time riders - under pressure to be passed fit in time to compete at Misano next weekend again, plus the following Catalunya MotoGP.