Raul Fernandez has been ruled out of Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, adding to a growing list of absentees that will leave the MotoGP grid with just 18 out of 22 riders in Sunday's race.
Among those missing will be the two riders from the factory Honda HRC team. Joan Mir did not travel to Australia because of the illness that has kept him sidelined throughout the Asian leg of the season, while Luca Marini’s absence from Saturday and Sunday was confirmed on Saturday morning after a virus limited him to just two laps in Friday’s opening practice session.
The biggest blow came during the sprint race, when Jorge Martin, who had led the championship until Saturday, crashed while battling Marc Marquez. The consequences were serious: the Spaniard fractured the radius in his right arm, with a fracture of the distal ulna also suspected. He will now have to return to Spain to assess the full extent of his injuries and determine whether surgery is necessary, at a critical stage of the season.
Martin was declared unfit, but he will not be the only Aprilia rider missing from Sunday’s race. His fellow Spaniard Fernandez, who rides for Trackhouse Racing, will also sit out the grand prix.
Fernandez had already been dealing with fractures to two fingers sustained on Saturday at the Indonesian Grand Prix, when he crashed following contact with Marco Bezzecchi.
Fernandez battled through the pain at Mandalika and had hoped to manage his condition carefully at Phillip Island, but he aggravated his injuries in a crash during Friday’s opening practice session.
The Trackhouse rider tried to persevere on Saturday despite increasing pain following the latest crash and the bumps around the demanding Australian circuit. However, he was forced to retire from the sprint early of his own accord.
Fernandez will therefore miss Sunday’s full-length race after being declared unfit by MotoGP medical director Dr Angel Charte, as confirmed by the American team.
It remains to be seen whether the #25 rider will be able to compete in the second round of the upcoming triple-header, next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
"After the race, Fernandez went straight to a medical assessment with the MotoGP Medical Director and it was found that while the finger fracture is stable, there is inflammation of the soft tissue around the fracture," the statement read.
"He has now been declared unfit to take part in the Grand Prix of Australia, on Sunday and will travel to Malaysia for a further medical assessment, on Thursday, to determine if he is able to ride at Sepang."
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