Defending Australian Grand Prix winner Raul Fernandez has been named as the sixth full-time MotoGP rider sidelined from this year’s Phillip Island race.
Fernandez joins Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati), Joan Mir (Honda), Luca Marini (Honda), Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) and Jorge Martin (Aprilia) as an absentee from Sunday’s event.
Aldeguer, Mir and Razgatlioglu are missing the weekend due to various injury and health reasons and an ill Marini had to throw in the towel after two laps in practice, while Martin got injured in the sprint.
Fernandez, meanwhile, is nursing an injury from Mandalika - where he had to use a different braking technique in the grand prix race after sustaining a right index finger fracture in the sprint start crash - and was forced to drop out of the Australian GP sprint by his physical condition.
His Trackhouse team has now confirmed that his Phillip Island weekend is over, and that he is in doubt for next weekend's round at Sepang, which offers no shortage of braking challenges.
"After the race, Fernandez went straight to a medical assessment with the MotoGP medical director [Dr Angel Charte] and it was found that while the finger fracture is stable, there is inflammation of the soft tissue around the fracture," Trackhouse explained.
Fernandez will have a medical assessment on Thursday at Sepang so is at least set to attend the weekend.
His absence brings the grand prix field down to 18 bikes, as only two of the six absentees are being covered by stand-ins.
Gresini has Iker Lecuona on Aldeguer’s Ducati and Augusto Fernandez will complete the season on Razgatlioglu’s Pramac Yamaha.
But while Fernandez, Martin and Marini’s withdrawals all happened during Saturday, Honda was already unable to cover for Mir because its test riders Taka Nakagami and Aleix Espargaro are also injured. So Marini dropping out as well leaves its works team with no bikes on the grid.