until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Honda MotoGP rider Joan Mir has withdrawn from the rest of the Italian Grand Prix weekend at Mugello.
Mir, who is enduring a nightmare start to his two-year Honda deal, fell during second practice after having finished the first session in 20th place.
He went to the medical centre for a check-up after his crash, in which “a small bone infraction” was diagnosed on the little finger of his right hand, as per MotoGP.
The series said he would be assessed after practice on Saturday morning, but there will be no need for that now as Honda has confirmed Mir will pull out of the round.
It is the second time this season already that his weekend has ended well in advance after a collision with Fabio Di Giannantonio had ruled him out from contesting the Sunday race at Termas de Rio Hondo.
Honda has cited “the high-speed and demanding nature” of Mugello and presumably hopes to maximise his fitness for the Sachsenring – which should be a better track for the Honda RC213V – next weekend instead.
The fall was Mir’s 12th of the season – not counting crashes in testing – which leads all riders across all grand prix racing classes this year.
It is possible he won’t be the only rider who will be pulling out of Mugello, with RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira admitting it is an option after a difficult Friday.
Though not hugely pain-limited, Oliveira – who is returning off a substantial left shoulder injury – is lacking power in his shoulder and tiring out his right arm in trying to compensate.
He said the team accepts he may need to “park it” if he can’t do sustained runs of long enough distance.
“I have to wake up tomorrow and see what the plan is, to continue the weekend or just try to survive,” he said.
“I mean, the head still commands something, so I’m really looking forward to riding. But also, to ride like this, you also have to make a huge expectation adjustment. To ride P20, it’s not fun.”
