Rider of the Month: October – Cal Crutchlow

October is a month that gives us a lot of thrills, and that is something that drives Cal Crutchlow.  Since this world champion rider was born around the Halloween season, we thought we’d have him as our ‘Rider of the Month’ for October.

Cal Crutchlow’s Early Life

Coventry-born Cal, son of aspiring racer Derek, was named after an American Motorcycle Racer, Cal Rayborn. Crutchlow was born on October 29th 1985, and for the first 11 years of his life, he set his heart on football. Cal was said to be so good at the sport, that he was offered trials for the junior teams at Coventry and Aston Villa. However, a knee injury urged him to think twice about that career path.

At the age of 11, he decided to take up motorcycling. Shortly after his 14th birthday, he was gifted his first motorbike. Following a fair bit of practice, Cal decided it was time to enter his first race. In 1999 he signed himself up for the UK Junior Challenge. Cal defied all expectations in winning the race, instantly making a name for himself very early on.

This is not Cal, just an R6!

The Beginning of Cal’s Racing Career

Following his 1999 success, Cal signed himself up for the Aprilia RS125 competition in 2001, at the age of just 16. It came as no surprise that he won this one too. Two years later he decided to move up another level and compete in Yamaha’s R6 Cup; to which he came runner up.

2004 was another big year for Cal as it was his first time competing in the British Supersport Competition. This year he was signed up on Team Honda and he came 10th. The following year proved more successful. Still with Honda, in 2005 claimed 2 race wins for British Supersport, placing him in 3^rd place on the table.

2005 had nothing on 2006 though. In this year, Cal won a total of 5 races allowing him to win the British Supersport competition for that year.

From Supersport to Superbikes

The year 2007 welcomed Crutchlow’s debut to British Superbike Championship, and for his first year, he didn’t do too bad, finishing in 9^th place. In that year he competed for team Suzuki, but the following year was when Honda welcomed him back with open arms. This was a decision that HM Plant Honda would not regret. Cal finished the championship in third place with his teammate Leon Haslam succeeding him in second.

In terms of the title of this section, Cal went back to Supersport again in 2009. This time, it was for the Supersport World Championship. This year was another win for Cal! Racing for Yamaha this time, he won a total of 5 races, putting him in first place. In 2010, Cal had a stint at the Superbike World Championship. Teaming up with James Toseland for Yamaha once again, Cal completed the competition in 5^th place following 3 race wins. Doncaster-born Toseland, on the other hand, completed in 9^th place.

Cal Crutchlow Takes on MotoGP and gets a few injuries!

Nowadays, although he is semi-retired, he is known to be seen competing in the MotoGP. 2011 was his first year here. Although he finished the race in 12^th place, he also won the award of ‘Rookie of the Year’. In 2012, Cal remained with Yamaha, as he did for another year too. Some would say he performed a lot better in 2012. However, in the end, after coming 3^rd twice, he finished in 7^th place and ended with a broken ankle.

Finishing 5^th with 2 3^rd places and 2 2^nd’s proved that 2013 was a better year for Cal. He also received his first pole position at Assen. This was his last year for Yamaha because in 2014 he had his first year competing with Ducati. Although he came third once, Cal didn’t do the best this year. He finished in 13^th place and came home with an injured hand.

2015 welcomed Honda back into his life for the next 6 years. This table shows how the next few years went…

2015	1 x 3rd place	8th
2016	2x 1st place (6 Ret)	7th
2017	1x 3rd place	9th
2018*	1x 1st,2nd,3rd	7th
2019	2x 3rd 1x 2nd	9th
2020		18th

Personal Life

Today you can find Cal living in Ramsay, Isle of Man with his wife Lucy and their little girl Willow. The family split their time between this home and their overseas place over in the beautiful Tuscany. Alongside this, he also spends some of his off-season time in his home located in California.