Cal Crutchlow is to miss the Argentinian round of MotoGP at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. The Factory Ducati rider is still recovering from surgery on the hand he injured during the race at Austin, and is not yet fit enough to race. Crutchlow will be replaced by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro in Argentina.

After his crash at Austin, Crutchlow was originally diagnosed with just a dislocated little finger on his right hand. However, when the swelling on the hand refused to subside, Crutchlow went in for further scans on his right hand in California. There it was found that the finger was still dislocated and was also broken. Crutchlow had surgery to insert a pin into the broken bone to stabilize it. Despite that operation, the 28-year-old Englishman's hand is still swollen, and is in too much pain for him to be competitive. Instead, Crutchlow will fly home to the Isle of Man to continue his recovery, and will prepare for his return at Jerez.

In a press release issued today by the Factory Ducati team, Crutchlow was quoted as saying 'I am very sad to let the team down like this because I was really looking forward to racing in Argentina. On Tuesday I had some scans on my hand and we saw that my finger was still dislocated from the crash and also broken so Dr. Chao decided to put a pin in to stabilize it. Unfortunately I'm still feeling too much pain in my right hand, my knuckles are the most painful part and I'm not in condition to race this weekend. Now I'm going back to the UK to continue treatment and try and get ready for the race at Jerez.'