Marc Marquez will miss the Indonesian Grand Prix following a nasty high-side in warm-up on Sunday morning, the Spaniard being declared unfit by MotoGP doctors.
The Honda racer crashed heavily at the high-speed Turn 7 in the pre-race warm-up session after losing control of his RC213-V, hitting his head in the ensuing impact – thus facilitating a tip to the local hospital in Lombok for tests to ascertain his ability to take part in Sunday’s contest.
It has now been confirmed less than an hour before the encounter though that Marquez suffered a heavy concussion as a result of the crash, meaning he will skip the race and head directly back to Barcelona to try and recover in time for the Argentinean GP in two weeks time.
Honda team boss Alberto Puig confirmed that the six-time premier class champion was in “no pain” following the incident, and that the concussion was the only effect of the crash.
Marquez’s Turn 7 shunt comes after a pair of fast crashes during qualifying as he attempted to try and escape Q1 to enter the pole shootout, incidents that meant he couldn’t manage any better than 15th on the grid.
His absence from the grid for the first Indonesian GP in 25 years is a big blow to Honda which has struggled so far at the Mandalika International Circuit, with Marquez its highest qualifier in 14th ahead of team-mate Pol Espargaro, who will now effectively begin in 15th.
With heavy rain now coating the venue, Marquez in particular stood a good chance of fighting his way towards the front of the field given his track record in inclement conditions.
The other two Honda entries – run by LCR – of Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami will now start from 18th and 23rd as a result of Marquez’s early departure.
