Cal Crutchlow out of Silverstone wildcard; Remy Gardner replaces him

Cal Crutchlow has been forced to withdraw from his wildcard at the British MotoGP at Silverstone.

Remy Gardner will instead race for Yamaha in Crutchlow's place on August 2-4.

“Unfortunately, I am unable to attend my wild card appearance at the Monster Energy British GP at Silverstone this year," Crutchlow announced. 

"I had surgery on my hand two months ago, and the recovery has not gone as expected at all, leading to a further surgery and complications.

“It is important to let my hand heal fully before trying to ride the MotoGP bike. 

"I look forward to coming back and riding with my Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Test Team as soon as I can and continue our project to improve the current and next year’s package for the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team.

“This year we have seen some improvement already thanks to endless work from everyone at Yamaha and the team. I hope to watch an exciting British GP this year and that everyone has a great weekend!

“Finally, I would like to wish Remy good luck and to have fun. He has experience on the MotoGP bike and got a good taste of the Yamaha in Germany at the last race, so it is the perfect situation for him to ride the bike again.”

Instead, there will be another opportunity for Yamaha's WSBK rider Gardner who raced at the last MotoGP round in Germany too.

Gardner added: “First of all, I just want to say that I hope that Cal can get better soon. I saw him last week, and I hope he can get back to riding and help the MotoGP project along.

“Obviously, it’s a nice opportunity to get to ride the M1 again, so I’m really happy. 

"Silverstone is a track I like, and hopefully I can give some more important feedback to Yamaha and the team and continue to enjoy the moment. Thanks to everyone at Yamaha, and I’m looking forward to riding again!”