MotoGP star Cal Crutchlow opens up on daughter following in his footsteps and turning down chance to buy Coventry

CAL CRUTCHLOW is the best British MotoGP star since the late Barry Sheene, but once upon a time he could have been a player for, or even owner of, Coventry football club. Back in 2016’s Czech Republic Grand Prix, Crutchlow became the first Briton to win a race in a premier class since Sheene in 1981. Cal Crutchlow has revealed he turned down the chance of buying Coventry before their rise to the Premier League Credit: Getty Crutchlow is competing in his last British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend Credit: PA Crutchlow never quite hit the same heights as motorsport icon Sheene, who passed away in 2003 and was inducted into the sport’s Hall of Fame on Thursday, but experienced some near misses at his home races. Speaking exclusively to SunSport ahead of the Silverstone race, Crutchlow reflected on those near misses, saying: “I would always say that was the one that got away [in 2016], but it wasn’t. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! “It was the year after that got away, 2017. I finished fourth and I was one of the most disappointed I’d ever been in a motorcycle race. Fourth at the time was great because I finished less than a second off the winner. “But 2016 was a whirlwind. I had my daughter that year, I had my first race win, had three or four podiums back-to-back, so it was a good year. But I just… at the time me, Valentino [Rossi], Marc [Marquez] were battling for second place. “It was a great part of my career, 2016, and the Silverstone race was a pleasure to be able to stand on a home podium.” The 40-year-old is only racing this season after his wife, Lucy, encouraged him to accept LCR Honda‘s offer to replace the injured Johann Zarco. He doesn’t hold out much hope of winning on what he says will undoubtedly be his last race on home soil, joking he needs “21 miracles” to achieve a dream victory. But in another life, Crutchlow could have been starring for Coventry before their rise to the Premier League, having had trials for both the Sky Blues and Aston Villa. Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS The best travel deals for F1 NOTHING comes close to the thrill of a live Grand Prix – and YOU can be there to see it all. Get the full F1 experience with these unbeatable deals. 🇳🇱 HOLLAND – 20 to 25 Aug – From £1,089pp 🇮🇹 ITALY – 3 to 8 Sept – From £789pp 🇦🇿 AZERBAIJAN – 22 to 27 Sept – From £1,399pp 🇸🇬 SINGAPORE– 7 to 14 Oct – From £1,999pp 🇺🇸 AUSTIN, USA – 21 to 26 Oct – From £2,799pp 🇶🇦 QATAR – 27 to 29 Nov – From £1,049pp 🇦🇪 ABU DHABI – 4 to 6 Dec – From £2,049pp See ALL our F1 travel offers HERE *If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue. However, a knee injury prompted him to focus on motorbikes, which proved successful as he won the 2009 Supersport World Championship and later scored three race wins in MotoGP alongside 19 podiums. In fact, Crutchlow exclusively told SunSport he was even offered the chance to buy the club when he started hitting the heights in MotoGP – at which time the now-Premier League club were in and around League One and Two. The Coventry-born rider told SunSport: “I was at Coventry for a few years, and then I had some injury in my knee, and then I decided to race a motorcycle at the time. “So whether I could have been playing football, I don’t know. But I had some good years playing. I love Coventry City as a club. “Many, many years ago, when I started to do well in MotoGP, I actually got asked if I wanted to buy the club. But I didn’t at the time because I was going racing MotoGP. “And now they’re in the Premier League… an astonishing turnaround.” It is safe to say Crutchlow is a big fan of the club’s current manager Frank Lampard, while he is also fully supportive of the owners who masterminded their return to the top flight for the first time since 2001. He said: “We love having Frank Lampard there, and, you know, the owners of the club are doing a great job, and I can’t wait to watch them hopefully go well in the Premier League as well.” Crutchlow is a huge fan of Coventry boss Frank Lampard Credit: Reuters Coventry earned promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since 2001 Credit: Getty Asked about potentially attending some games this season, he added: “If I can. You know, luckily my schedule’s not as busy anymore, so I can go and attend things like that.” Crutchlow expressed his gratitude for the unending support he has received from his wife and daughter, Willow, who turned 10 on August 2. Willow is a regular around the MotoGP paddock, but Crutchlow revealed she has a separate sporting goal in mind… and he is quite relieved by that fact. He said: “She plays football, and she loves football. She’s brilliant at it—she’s super fast. If she could play football seven days a week, she would. “So we have to try and hold her back a little bit, and I’m glad that that is not motorcycle racing. That’s not to say that I don’t want to get people into motorcycle racing, kids and girls, I do. “But I just don’t want my own daughter to do it because I’ve seen the ups and the downs of it, like any sport. “You know, any sport is like that. But I love that she likes football. I used to play football before I raced motorcycles, so I fully support her in whatever she wants to do. “If she wants to race a motorcycle, okay, I’ll help her, of course. But she loves to watch it. She loves it the same as me; she has a passion for the sport. I just do it, and she just watches it, you know.” He opened up on the support he has got from wife Lucy and daughter Willow since returning to MotoGP this season Credit: Instagram/@calcrutchlow Crutchlow also reflected on this weekend’s race at Silverstone being his last, adding: “I knew how long it was going to be for, and I agreed to do it. And we won’t go past that anyway. “Don’t get me wrong, I love motorcycle racing, but I haven’t come back to continue to race. I came back because they asked me to do these races, and that’s it… “I’m going to go and try and win, the same as what everyone else is. The likelihood of it is like hitting the moon with a snowball. “But I’ll have a go. So yeah, it’ll be the last Silverstone Grand Prix I’ll do, I’m absolutely sure of that. But you know, I’ll just take it all in, enjoy it, enjoy the challenge of racing again at Silverstone.” Comment now