Miguel Oliveira has now also been ruled out of the Argentina MotoGP round due to injury after he was crashed into by Marc Marquez at Portimao.
The Portuguese rider told reporters that he had escaped any broken bones but sustained possible ligament damage after the #93 Honda clattered into him on Lap 3 of the Portuguese Grand Prix.
Honda had already announced that Marquez will not race this coming weekend at Termas de Rio Hondo and now RNF has done likewise with respect to Oliveira, due to the discovery of unspecified “further damage”.
“Miguel Oliveira will not be participating in the upcoming Argentina Grand Prix due to a recent injury,” read a team statement, in part.
“Following his crash at the Portuguese Grand Prix, Oliveira underwent further testing in his hometown where further damage have been revealed, which doesn’t allow him to start the second GP of the season.
“Despite the setback, Oliveira remains committed to his goal of being competitive in the World Championship and will focus on his recovery in order to return to the saddle of his Aprilia RS-GP at round three of the season in Austin, Texas just two weeks later.”
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The Aprilia satellite team will not replace Oliveira for the Argentina event.
He is the fourth to be scratched from Round 2 of the season, joining Marquez, Enea Bastianini (Ducati Team), and Pol Espargaro (GasGas Tech3) on the sideline.
Marquez has a fracture in his right hand, Bastianini picked up a fractured shoulder blade after being taken out by Luca Marini in the Portimao Sprint, and Espargaro crashed heavily in practice, suffering bruised lungs, a fractured jaw, and a fractured dorsal vertebra.
Tech3 boss Herve Poncharal said at Portimao of the latter, “Everybody was worried. We have seen accidents like this that had a difficult outcome.
“To be positive? Pol will come back to a normal life, pretty soon. He will return to being a full-time MotoGP rider soon.
“Of course, he’s in pain. We were really worried about his back. It is minor. His legs and arms are moving.
“His issue with his lungs makes it difficult to breathe properly but it will be 24 to 48 hours to recover.
“The biggest problem is his jaw. They are analysing whether he needs surgery or not.
“He will fly back to Barcelona, go to see a surgeon and doctors. Then we will issue a clearer statement on how long it will take to recover.
“I believe it will quite a while.”
Ducati and Tech3 have also confirmed they will not be replacing their injured riders in Argentina, while Honda is yet to provide any advice on that matter.
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