until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Repsol Honda rider Pol Espargaro has withdrawn from this weekend’s Dutch TT at Assen, as he continues to battle worsening pain caused by the injuries he sustained eight days ago in a practice crash at the German Grand Prix.
Able to continue at the Sachsenring but forced to retire early from the race, he tried to ride on Friday at the Dutch track but his team announced on Saturday morning he wouldn’t be able to continue.
“Since suffering his fall in Free Practice 1,” Honda said in a brief statement, “at the German GP, Pol Espargaro has tried his maximum in order to recover and be fit for Round 11 of the MotoGP World Championship. After Free Practice 2 on Friday, Espargaro was still in intense pain and discomfort.
“Consequently, he feels he is not capable of racing a MotoGP bike and together with the Repsol Honda Team has elected to sit out the race in Assen.”
That comes as little surprise given his comments after the first day of action, after the Spaniard admitted that his injuries had actually become more painful not less after only a week off.
“Worse than I expected,” he said of his condition. “I expected to be much better here.”
“Pol is a very strong guy. He will not stop racing just because- he will do this only if he’s on the limit,” team manager Alberto Puig said.
“We cannot put a guy on the bike when he cannot breathe. We clearly all unanimously decided there’s no meaning to do it and it’s dangerous.”
The good news for Espargaro is that, with the cancellation of the Finnish Grand Prix, he now has a five-week summer break to fully recuperate in before returning to action at Silverstone in early August.
The Honda factory team is now down to just long-term stand-in Stefan Bradl, who is racing in place of the recuperating Marc Marquez.
