Tech 3 Yamaha ace Cal Crutchlow feels he has a 'good chance' of securing a factory ride alongside Jorge Lorenzo in 2013.

Lorenzo ended speculation over his future by signing a new deal recently with Yamaha in the wake of reigning champion Casey Stoner's announcement that he would retire from MotoGP at the end of the current campaign.

Ben Spies is Lorenzo's current team-mate in the factory squad on the YZR-M1, but the Texan has regularly been out-performed by satellite riders Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso this season and his place alongside Lorenzo is coming under increasing threat.

Crutchlow, speaking during a live webchat on the Bennetts Bike Insurance Facebook page, said he feels he has a 'good shout' of landing the coveted seat.

"I think I've got a good shout at it but it's down to the Yamaha bosses.



"At the minute we've proved what we can do, but Andrea has been in a factory team for three years already and has come back to a satellite team and is obviously one of the best riders around.

"He's already been in a factory team so maybe that will be in my favour," added Crutchlow.

"My priority is to stay with Yamaha because they've been very loyal to me over the past four years and I hope to repay them and hopefully we can do a good job with them.

"I'll wait to see what they want to do first and foremost but if not, we'll look at the other options on the table."

Crutchlow, also linked with Ducati, is recovering from a broken ankle sustained in an accident during practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

He produced a stunning ride from the rear of the grid to finish sixth in front of his home crowd and currently lies in fourth place in the championship.

Cal is supporting the bikerpetition.co.uk campaign to secure the compulsory inclusion of a motorcycle-related question in the UK driving test to raise awareness of bikers among drivers.

A total of 100,000 signatures are required by 2pm on Saturday to bolster the campaign.

The figure currently stands at over 68,000.