Trackhouse Aprilia MotoGP rider Raul Fernandez’s Australian Grand Prix may be in doubt after injury troubles forced him to retire from Saturday’s sprint.
The Spanish rider won the Australian Grand Prix last year, marking his first victory in the premier class.
Strong through practice, Fernandez was sixth in qualifying, but would retire from the sprint with four laps to go.
Fernandez fractured two fingers in a collision with Aprilia stablemate Marco Bezzecchi at the start of the Indonesia sprint two weeks ago, with the injury forcing him to retire from today’s race at Phillip Island.
Raul Fernandez, finger injury, 2026 Indonesian MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
Trackhouse says Fernandez is currently undergoing checks.
“Raul Fernandez withdraws from the Australia Sprint race suffering the effects of his crash in Indonesia in which he factured his right index finger – his primary brake control finger,” a statement from the team read.
“SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team rider No.25 Raul Fernandez was forced to retire from the 13-lap Sprint race at Phillip Island unable to continue on his Aprilia RS-GP26 bike.
“The demanding nature of the Australian track proved to be physically more stressful than the Indonesia Mandalika Circuit, and the level of discomfort too great to continue beyond lap nine.
“After the race, Fernandez went straight to a medical assessment and further news will follow.”
Fernandez gritted his teeth through the injury at the Mandalika track two weeks ago to convert pole to a second-place finish.
He also managed to lead the grand prix for 18 laps, before Bezzecchi overtook him and went on to score his first win since the Italian Grand Prix at the end of May.
Fernandez’s injury struggles come as erstwhile championship leader Jorge Martin suffered a high-speed crash at Turn 8 during Saturday’s Phillip Island sprint.
The Aprilia rider was battling hard with Marc Marquez for victory and greater control in the championship standings when he fell out of second on lap eight of 13.
He had to be stretchered away by the marshals and is in the medical centre for checks.
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Marquez went on to win the sprint, giving him a 10-point lead in the standings heading into Sunday’s grand prix.
No condition update has been given for Martin at the time of publishing.
Lewis joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having been a journalist for five years covering MotoGP for the Motorsport Network. In February of 2026, he became Head of Editorial.