Cal Crutchlow’s hand injury following yesterday’s crash at the Austin MotoGP round has been downgraded from intial reports from his manager Bob Moore of a broken hand to a dislocated finger which means he may be able to ride at Argentina.

The Ducati man was pinged over the highside of his GP14 which then collected him and his hand got trapped. The former World Supersport champion was then taken to the medical centre but his injuries were less than first thought.

Crutchlow had pitted early in the race after suffering with severe rear chatter and opted to switch to the soft-compound Bridgestone he is allowed to run in Open rules but it came to nought.

“I was very optimistic, but unfortunately I had a problem with the rear tyre of the bike immediately from lap one, there were some very big vibrations and it was becoming worse so I thought it was better to pit and change the tyre,” said Crutchlow.

“Because we were not even at half-distance, the team made the decision to put the soft rear tyre in and I took benefit from that but I was never going to get any points. I remember hitting a bump on the track that upset the bike. It was a fast corner and seemed like it was just going to be a normal crash, but I got caught up with the bike and it ended up highsiding me.

“I really hit my hand so hard that I dislocated the finger and the swelling of the hand was so bad that I couldn’t see the problem. I’m sorry for the team, but very pleased for Andrea to be on the podium after all the hard work the guys in Ducati Corse have put in over the winter.”