Franco Morbidelli has been ruled out of MotoGP weekend in Czech GP and he will not be replaced by VR46, but he will be present at Brno.
Franco Morbidelli’s (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) summer break will be a little bit longer than he’d have planned as he needs more time to recover from his Sachsenring Tissot Sprint crash. The Italian missed Sunday action in order to rest before re-assessing ahead of Brno but in the end, the #21 is sidelined, having returned to Italy for further checks due to shoulder pain. Fifth in the standings, Morbidelli won’t be replaced for Round 12.
Talking about missing the round, Morbidelli said: “Following two days of medical checks, physiotherapy sessions and rest, we decided together with the team to miss this GP at Brno. It’s always difficult to take decisions like this, but after a heavy crash like the one I had in Sachsenring – and in this moment of the championship before the summer break – it doesn’t make any sense to take risks, because the pain is still persistent.
“Obviously, it’s not an easy moment, but I received a lot of support from all my team, the VR46 Riders Academy and all the fans who look forward to seeing me fully recovered. This weekend I will be at Brno because I want to keep working with my staff, and the team gives me the opportunity of continuing at the track all the physiotherapy program to come back to Austria as much recovered as possible.”
Morbidelli isn’t the only one out of action this weekend as Maverick Viñales’ (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) shoulder fracture from Q2 in Germany also sees him replaced by Pol Espargaro. Enea Bastianini will return as well, while Takaaki Nakagami will replace Somkiat Chantra at LCR Honda.
Here’s news on Pol Espargaro
[The story is as per press release]