Aleix Espargaro will sit out Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix following a high-speed crash on the final lap of the sprint race, his Aprilia MotoGP team has announced.
Espargaro’s participation in the Assen contest had been in doubt since he fell off his bike at Turn 15 and had to be taken to the hospital for check-ups.
The Spaniard’s condition for the race was initially expected to be evaluated in the warm-up, but before the session officially began Aprilia revealed that he will in fact not take part in any action on Sunday.
“Dear Media, just to inform you that Aleix Espargaro will not race today, even in the warm up session, in order to speed up the recovery. Thank you,” read a short statement from the Noale marque.
In his absence, the factory Aprilia team will be represented by team-mate Maverick Vinales and wildcard test rider Lorenzo Savadori, plus Trackhouse satellite duo Miguel Oliviera and Raul Fernandez.
A CT scan during Saturday’s visit to the hospital had revealed that Espargaro suffered a simple fracture at the metacarpal 5 on his right hand.
The 34-year-old was visibly shaken when he lost the control of his Aprilia RS-GP on the final lap of the sprint while fighting for fifth place.
It was his second major crash of the weekend, having already suffered a nasty highside going into the final chicane in second practice on Friday.
He was still able to progress directly into Q2 and qualify fifth for both the sprint and the main grand prix, two-places behind team-mate Maverick Vinales.
With Martin having been handed a grid penalty for impeding Raul Fernandez in qualifying, he would have lined up fourth for the grand prix had he been able to take the start.
But with Espargaro now focusing on his recovery, Martin will move back up to fifth, while Team VR46’s Fabio di Giannatonio will complete the second row on the grid.
Aprilia has looked solid in the Assen weekend so far, with Vinales occupying the final spot on the podium in the sprint behind runaway race winner Francesco Bagnaia and second-placed Pramac rider Jorge Martin.
Oliveira missed out on a points finish in 12th, while Fernandez ended up 17th and Savadori crashed out with eight laps to run
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team crash
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images