First Folger, now Crutchlow: why stopgap choices in MotoGP can be worth their weight in gold (or spell trouble)

A nostalgic return in a time of crisis. Cal Crutchlow’s announcement this morning for the Mugello GP is something of a confirmation of this idea.

It’s exciting to see, for the first time since 2023, a 40-year-old former MotoGP rider back in action to do a favor for his former team (which surely remembers well his three wins and various podiums!), but it also brings back the same questions we all had when KTM had to field Jonas Folger for the injured Maverick Vinales—curiously, he too returning to MotoGP for the first time since 2023. A “safe used” option, with its inherent risks, but also a “makeshift” choice, and one forced for various reasons... Without forgetting, however, that development of current MotoGP bikes is slowing down—indeed, for some brands it has already stopped—in view of the 2027 revolution.

In Folger and KTM’s case, Pol Espargaro was injured during a test, followed by a definitive no from Dani Pedrosa to any further races. In a sense, though, the two stories are similar: a last-minute phone call, a preliminary test to gauge the situation and the rider’s condition. In Folger’s case, there’s also the choice to still field someone from within the structure, even if he’s been far from MotoGP for quite a while due to other activities with the Mattinghofen brand. Perhaps also to avoid dispersing data to the benefit of other manufacturers? That, however, is just a personal hypothesis.

There are similarities with Crutchlow’s story who, unlike the German, is no longer tied to any brand but was once part of Honda and LCR (and later worked briefly as a Yamaha tester). “When I got the call to replace Zarco, I felt privileged and honored, and I decided I had to give it a try” was the Briton’s comment. As with Folger, from 2023 to now MotoGP has changed a great deal, and inevitably Crutchlow has fallen behind. In this case too, however, it’s an almost forced and “lucky break” choice, albeit for different reasons than KTM: looking at the testers, Nakagami is locked into the 850cc project and Espargaro is injured.

Forced and makeshift choices that can, surprisingly, become valuable resources precisely because they’ve been away from “modern” MotoGP for some time, thus seeing the situation from another perspective. But there are also major risks of insurmountable difficulties due to the differences from the bikes they remember, meaning they might not prove particularly “useful” in terms of data collection. In times of crisis, with a technical revolution just around the corner, perhaps it’s not the time to overthink it...

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