Avintia Ducati’s Tito Rabat has been ruled out of the Malaysian MotoGP weekend, while Tech 3 KTM’s Miguel Oliveira has been confirmed for a return.
Rabat injured his right hand and wrist in the lead up to MotoGP Japanese GP at Motegi, where he skipped both qualifying the race. He made an attempt to race in the subsequent Australian GP as well but only managed three laps before pitting to retire.
Instead of pushing himself again this weekend, Rabat has decided to flay off to Barcelona and recover in time for the Valencia MotoGP finale, thereby missing the Malaysian GP. The Spaniard stated that he doesn’t feel 100 percent to race.
Avintia tried to replace Rabat with its MotoE rider Eric Granado but Ducati did not give an all-clear due to his lack of experience in MotoGP. The Brazilian competed in Moto3 and Moto2 but hasn’t been a regular figure, which has worked against him.
The team also chose to confirm him for the 2020 MotoE season and revealed plans to put him in MotoGP in the future. With no Rabat and Granado, it means Avintia will have the sole Ducati Desmosedici in Malaysia for Czech Karel Abraham.
While Rabat will miss the MotoGP weekend, Tech 3 KTM’s Oliveira will return after being forced out of the Philip Island race. He crashed heavily in Australia which led qualifying being pushed to Sunday, as the medical team then ruled him out of the grand prix.
He will return at Sepang International Circuit alongside local rider and teammate Hafizh Syahrin. Even though he has been cleared to compete by the medical team, it will be the case of taking utmost care, so that he doesn’t injures again and is forced to sit out.
UPDATE: Following the FP1 in Malaysian GP, it was decided that Oliveira will not take part in the remainder of the weekend as he is yet to fully recover from the Australian MotoGP injuries.
Here’s what happened in the Australian GP MotoGP race
