Two of the sport’s leading protagonists will miss the next event in this year’s MotoGP championships, multi-time champion Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini.
Both men have been forced to the side-lines by injury.
Spanish rider Marquez and Italy’s Bastianini will miss round three, the GP of the Americas in Texas this weekend, as they continue their recovery.
Following a final CAT scan, Marquez and his medical team, led by Dr. Ignacio Roger de Oña, at the Ruber Internacional Hospital in Madrid, have confirmed the first metacarpal is still in the healing process.
After close collaboration with his Repsol Honda Team and Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), all involved have elected to let the injury fully heal and avoid any unnecessary risks.
Marquez will continue to work through his rehabilitation program at home in order to return at full fitness as soon as possible.
After completing a few laps at Misano with the Panigale V4S, Ducati Lenovo Team rider Bastianini underwent a further check-up in Forlì at Dr Porcellini’s clinic, who confirmed that Bastianini will still need a few more weeks to fully recover from the right shoulder injury sustained in the Portuguese GP.
Enea will therefore continue his rehabilitation with the aim of returning to the track in Jerez and will be replaced in Texas by Michele Pirro.
Spain’s Joan Mir will be joined in the Repsol Honda team by Stefan Bradl.
The 5.51-kilometer-long circuit at Texas has previously been happy hunting ground for the Honda RC213V with Marquez guiding it to victory on seven occasions, undefeated from 2013 to 2018.
Mir has spent the week between races recovering from the impact of his heavy crash during the first lap of the Sprint race in Argentina.
Mir is determined to put together an issue-free weekend to continue his adaptation to the Honda RC213V, racing mileage the key to further improvements. The 2022 season saw Mir achieve his equal best finish of the year when he was fourth at the Americas GP.
Photo courtesy Ducati
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2023 MotoGP World Champs standings after round two:
| Position | Entrant | Wins | Points |
| 1 | Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team (GP22) | 1 | 50.00 |
| 2 | Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team (GP23) | 2 | 41.00 |
| 3 | Johann Zarco Prima Pramac Racing (GP23) | 35.00 | |
| 4 | Alex Marquez Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP22) | 33.00 | |
| 5 | Maverick Vinales Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | 32.00 | |
| 6 | Jack Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) | 25.00 | |
| 7 | Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) | 1 | 22.00 |
| 8 | Jorge Martin Prima Pramac Racing (GP23) | 22.00 | |
| 9 | Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) | 21.00 | |
| 10 | Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) | 18.00 | |
| 11 | Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team (GP22) | 15.00 | |
| 12 | Alex Rins LCR Honda CASTROL (RC213V) | 13.00 | |
| 13 | Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | 12.00 | |
| 14 | Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 (RC16) | 8.00 | |
| 15 | Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) | 7.00 | |
| 16 | Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU (RC213V) | 7.00 | |
| 17 | Fabio di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP22) | 6.00 | |
| 18 | Joan Mir Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) | 5.00 | |
| 19 | Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team (RS-GP22) | 3.00 | |
| 20 | Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team (RS-GP22) | 2.00 | |
| 21 | Pol Espargaro GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 (RC16) | 0.00 | |
| 22 | Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo Team (GP23) | 0.00 |