Today’s final race of the 2021 MotoGP season will be the first round of the championship since Assen in 1992 to start without a factory Honda on the grid, with Repsol Honda rider Pol Espargaro confirmed as a non-starter for the Valencian Grand Prix and joining team-mate Marc Marquez on the injury list.
The Spaniard fell heavily at Turn 13 during Saturday morning’s free practice three session, sustaining multiple injuries that required a trip to hospital for further examination.
High speed crash for @polespargaro at Turn 13 😲
Thankfully the Spaniard is conscious 💢#ValenciaGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/GBSHayvrdT
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 13, 2021
Unable to take to the track in the afternoon’s qualifying sessions, he initially planned to attempt to ride, as he said in a brief press statement issued by the team afterwards.
“Unfortunately today I had a very big crash during FP3 at Turn 13,” he explained.
“The impact was very hard but fortunately I have no serious injuries and nothing appeared broken in the tests we did at the hospital.
“At the moment I have a lot of pain from around my ribs when I breathe, this is what hurts most.
“I’m really disappointed because we had great speed and I was feeling really confident. I’m sorry for my team.
“Tonight we will rest, take painkillers and see what the situation is in the morning.”
However, it was confirmed on Sunday morning that he will not take part in the race, with the team electing to instead concentrate on the post-season Jerez test later in the week – a crucial test that team-mate Marquez will miss following eyesight complications from an injury suffered while training earlier this month.
Whether Espargaro makes the two-day test, which starts on Thursday, remains to be seen – but despite doctors admitting that he was “confused” following the heavy fall, it’s unlikely that he will be kept from trialling Honda’s much-revised 2022-spec RC213V if the pain subsides sufficiently.
But his Sunday withdrawal means that the Valencian GP will mark the first time ever that a premier-class grand prix race will start without a Repsol Honda since they started their long-term partnership in 1995 – and the first time that no factory Honda bike has been on the grid since both Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan failed to line up for the 1992 Dutch TT.
