Pol Espargaro will attempt to ride in this weekend's MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix, following a month on the sidelines after picking up a collarbone injury in a crash at Brno.
The KTM rider crashed heavily during the warm-up session of the Czech Grand Prix, suffering a broken collarbone as well as an inflamed spinal cord.
He was forced to miss the Brno race, as well as KTM's home round at the Red Bull Ring and the British Grand Prix weekend, with Frenchman Loris Baz replacing him for the latter.
Espargaro had hoped to make a Misano return, but a misdiagnosis in the seriousness of his left collarbone injury put this in doubt.
However, KTM has confirmed via its Twitter page that Espargaro will attempt to ride this weekend at Misano.
With test rider Mika Kallio suffering an extensive knee injury in a crash during a wildcard appearance at the Sachsenring, KTM was forced to sign former MotoGP rider Randy de Puniet to take over development duties.
The Frenchman tested the RC16 at Aragon immediately after the Silverstone round, and was expected to fill in for Espargaro in Italy this weekend should the Spaniard remain sidelines.
Espargaro will remain with KTM next year after agreeing a two-year extension, and will be joined by Tech3's Johann Zarco. Bradley Smith is currently weighing up test rider roles at Yamaha and Aprilia, while Dani Pedrosa has been courted by KTM to join its test roster.
