Pramac Yamaha rider Miguel Oliveira will now miss the Grand Prix of the Americas - and perhaps more - due to his Termas de Rio Hondo injury, with test rider Augusto Fernandez drafted in instead.
Oliveira was injured in a collision with rookie Fermin Aldeguer - for which Aldeguer was penalised - during the sprint race of the Argentina Grand Prix weekend.
While an initial examination turned up no major injuries, it soon became clear Oliveira was in no shape to continue with the weekend, and his absence will now stretch to the COTA round, too.
This is due to, as per Yamaha, an injury to Oliveira's left sternoclavicular joint - which is where the collarbone meets the sternum.
"After returning home, I had an MRI that detected a dislocation of the sternoclavicular joint with ligament rupture," said Oliveira. "Obviously, we discussed the fastest recovery options, and it was decided to keep the arm immobilised for some time.
"The time of return is unpredictable because we have to await my body's biological response. We will evaluate every week how the situation is.
"We are working on returning to the track as soon as possible, but above that we will focus on my recovery and getting back to 100% fitness."
The news exacerbates what was already a galling latest addition to Oliveira's brutal recent injury record in MotoGP. Termas was the 10th grand prix start he'd missed since the start of the 2023 season - and five separate injuries have been responsible for these absences.
Aldeguer served a long-lap penalty for the crash in the Sunday race at Termas and took full blame for the incident.
Oliveira's replacement Fernandez is Yamaha's new test rider for this year, having landed in the role after his exit from KTM's MotoGP line-up.
Fernandez, remarkably, was already scheduled to be running in relief on that March 29-30 weekend but in a different paddock. He had been named as the Portimao replacement for the injured Jonathan Rea in Yamaha's World Superbike squad - and even tested in preparation for the outing.
Superbike specialist Jason O'Halloran will be Rea's stand-in instead.
