For the Ducati Team, the Gran Premio bwin de España marks the return of Cal Crutchlow on his Desmosedici GP14 machine after an absence of one race.

The British rider, who was injured in the race at Austin, where he suffered a dislocated right little finger and a tiny fracture in the same hand, had to miss the last round in Argentina.

To speed up his recovery, Crutchlow has been spending the last few days at home in the Isle of Man, trying to get ready for the Spanish round with the help of a hyperbaric chamber.

Ahead of his return to the racetrack Crutchlow commented,

"My hand is getting better every day, but I still have some pain and it’s definitely going to be difficult to ride this weekend. I’ll try and see how it is from Friday and do the best job I can."

"Jerez is surely one of the toughest circuits to come back and ride at after my crash. It’s a really great track, and the crowd are great as well, but really I’m just excited about joining up with the team again and getting back on the bike."

Alongside Crutchlow and his teammate Andrea Dovizioso, Michele Pirro will race at Jerez as a ‘wild-card’ for the Ducati Test Team, having substituted for the Englishman in Argentina.



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