MotoGP title contender Jorge Martin will miss Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix after breaking his forearm in a high-speed crash in the sprint.
In a statement released less than two hours after the sprint, Aprilia revealed that the Spaniard has suffered a fracture to his radius, one of the two bones in the forearm. Initial scans also indicated a suspected fracture of the ulna, the other forearm bone, at its distal end near the wrist.
While further tests are necessary to establish the full extent of the injury, Martin has already been declared unfit for the grand prix on Sunday, dealing a severe blow to his title hopes.
“Jorge Martin was taken to the circuit’s medical center following his crash,” the statement read.
“The x-rays revealed a fracture of the radius and a suspected fracture of the ulna at the distal end.
“Martin will undergo further examinations to reach a definitive assessment of his condition. Martin has been declared unfit for tomorrow’s race.”
Later on Friday, Aprilia issued a second statement, revealing that the team will decide how to proceed with the situation based on additional tests.
"Martin is set to undergo a CT scan in Melbourne to determine the extent of the injury and whether the ulna is affected," it said.
"If the radius fracture is non-displaced, he will remain there in an attempt to race in Sepang; if there is displacement or if the ulna is also fractured, he will travel to Spain as soon as possible for surgery."
Martin was in the middle of a thrilling battle with Ducati’s Marc Marquez for victory in Saturday’s half-distance race at Phillip Island when he crashed out of second place on lap 8.
Replays showed him sliding into the gravel at 180km/h before being put on a stretcher and taken to the medical centre for check-ups.
With Marquez going on to win the race, Martin went from leading the championship by two points to dropping 10 points behind his Ducati rival, a 12-point swing against his favour.
Martin had made a brilliant launch from fourth on the grid to move directly behind his title rival, and even passed him for the lead on lap 3.
But he made a mistake two laps later and dropped back to second, with the pair continuing to trade positions until Martin crashed with six laps to run.
With the Spaniard retiring, team-mate Marco Bezzecchi emerged as Aprilia’s best representative in the race in fourth.
Explaining the incident, Martin said: "It’s a shame about this crash. It was a nasty one. But I’m okay, despite a hard, very dangerous impact.
"Now I’m going to have some tests done to see exactly what the situation is, and then we’ll decide how to proceed based on the results."
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