Crutchlow baffled MotoGP chose Silverstone over Donington

Donington took over from Silverstone as host venue for the British Grand Prix in 1987, before MotoGP returned to the revamped Northamptonshire circuit in 2010.

Silverstone lost its contract with series owners Dorna to the Circuit of Wales for 2015, but as problems mounted with the Ebbw Vale-based project, Silverstone continued to stage the race.

When the Circuit of Wales proposal collapsed earlier this year through a lack of government funding, Donington looked to be in a strong position to return to the MotoGP calendar for 2018.

However, during the Valencia Grand Prix weekend, Silverstone finally agreed a new three-year deal with series promoter Dorna covering 2018, '19 and '20.

LCR Honda rider Crutchlow admits he was disappointed about not returning to Donington, though pointed out he had "nothing against" Silverstone – at which he secured pole and a second-place finish in 2016.

He said: "Personally I'm disappointed, because why not go back to Donington? I think the other guys like Donington as well.

"I'd already spoke to Jonathan [Palmer, circuit owner] quite a bit, to Stuart Higgs [British Superbike championship director] quite a bit, but obviously it hasn't ended up happening. I don't know why they didn't get the deal done.

"That's nothing against Silverstone, I just think it would have been nice for a change, in my personal opinion."

Crutchlow – who won at Donington on his way to the 2009 World Supersport title – brushed off claims that circuit is too dangerous for modern MotoGP bikes as the barriers are too close to the track.

He underlined Japanese Grand Prix venue Motegi as being a far more dangerous place in this respect.

"I don't think so," he said when asked if Donington was too tight. "If you look at when they last went there, the bikes were more aggressive than what they are now," he claimed.

"Probably we're able to push more now than they were then, but I know they were discussing moving the barriers back, stuff like that.

"I don't think it's too tight. If you look at Motegi, if you're talking about walls [being too close to the track] there's no comparison.

"I have a thing about Donington, I haven't ridden there for years. I do like it, it's a track of two halves. I would have liked to go back there."

Additional reporting by Gerald Dirnbeck