Yamaha’s Alex Rins has been ruled out of the rest of the British Grand Prix weekend after suffering a crash late in second practice on Friday.
Having already missed last month’s German Grand Prix following an accident in the Assen race, Rins was only just getting back on the bike at Silverstone when he ended up in the gravel at Turn 6 with just minutes to go in the hour-long afternoon session.
The Spaniard was seen waving his right hand after his fall, suggesting he might have aggravated the injuries he suffered in the Dutch Grand Prix last month — although this is yet to be confirmed by him.
Later in the day, Yamaha issued a statement revealing that Rins was suffering from pain and will prioritise his health over the remainder of the weekend.
The 29-year-old will undergo further tests after a period of rest to assess his fitness for the following round in Spielberg, the Austrian GP, on 18 August.
His place in the factory Yamaha team in Britain will be taken over by World Superbike regular Remy Gardner, who was already competing as a wildcard this weekend as part of the Japanese marque’s test team. He will now be eligible to score manufacturer points for Yamaha.
«After assessing my medical condition with my doctors, we have come to the conclusion that the most responsible thing for me is to skip the remaining part of the British GP,” Rins said.
“As you can imagine, I feel sorry for the team and for myself. Every single lap that we have done this season has proven to be useful for the development of the bike and for closing the gap to other manufacturers.
“But the pain that I‘m feeling and the risk of a bigger injury, along with the medical advice, makes me take this decision. I hope to be back on track and working again very soon.”
Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Rins was thrown from his M1 at the start of the Dutch GP in June and suffered two small fractures in his right hand and one in his left leg in the monstrous crash.
He immediately flew to Madrid to undergo a double surgery, with doctors operating on both his hand and leg.
During the first operation, he had some nails placed in his hand, which are now believed to be the main cause of his problems. In addition, some of the nails were removed from his foot even, but some of the bones have not yet healed.
As such, he was told by doctors not to take any risk on his return at Silverstone.
The FP2 crash, hence, meant that he was forced to abandon the plans to make an early comeback from injuries.
Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis said: «First of all, I would like to express my sympathies to Alex.
“Riders are always disappointed when they can’t ride, but perhaps this one is even more frustrating for Alex as the British GP is a very special round. It’s significant for Monster Energy, who sponsor this round, and also for Dorna who are staging the MotoGP 75th Anniversary celebrations.
“Moreover, Alex really likes Silverstone and has gotten great results here, so it’s definitely a let-down. However, his health and well-being must take priority. We therefore decided that it was not worth it for him to continue the British GP race weekend and hope to have him back in Austria in a better condition.”