LCR Honda employee positive for coronavirus at Catalan Grand Prix

(Reuters) - A Honda Racing Corp (HRC) staff member working for their satellite LCR outfit has tested positive for the new coronavirus at this weekend's Catalan Grand Prix and is in isolation along with other contacts, the team said.

LCR said it has brought in a new technical team for Sunday's race to support their two riders, Briton Cal Crutchlow and Japan's Takaaki Nakagami.

"Unfortunately, today a member of HRC team working for LCR Honda has tested positive for COVID-19, being immediately isolated," LCR said in a statement.

"The three members with Category 1 contact have been isolated and tested, returning negative results," it said. "HRC has already deployed new technicians, tested negative, so Crutchlow and Nakagami will be fully supported as always."

Crutchlow, returning this weekend after an arm injury ruled him out of the last two races, said on Friday that the positive test had "made life more difficult" for the team.

"But it doesn't stop us from working hard and continuing to do our jobs in the garage. We've all today had another test and everyone in the garage has tested negative," Crutchlow was quoted as saying by motorsport.com.

"I don't know how they do it, but it's a fast test and we had the results within in one hour. I had two tests, just before I went out, the nose was constantly running because you had the swab up the nose twice.

"But, it's OK, it's part of it, and this shows how much we want to do it because we go through it all the time."

Moto2 rider Jorge Martin of the Red Bull KTM Ajo team missed the previous two races after he continued to test positive for COVID-19.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)