Miguel Oliveira will become the fourth full-time 2023 MotoGP rider to be absent from this weekend’s Argentinean Grand Prix through injuries he picked up in his Portuguese GP clash.
The RNF Aprilia pilot was taken out after Honda’s Marc Marquez out-braked himself into Turn 3 on the second tour of the Portuguese encounter, the Spaniard clipping Jorge Martin before sliding directly into the side of Oliveira.
While Marquez sustained a fractured right hand and announced he would be ruled out of this weekend’s event on Monday morning, Oliveira was originally thought to have escaped with only a contusion on his right leg, though RNF revealed in a statement released Monday evening that further ailments have been found upon further inspection.
Oliveira will thus skip the Argentinean GP in order to try and be back to full fitness for the Americas GP in three weeks time, with RNF confirming that it would be not replacing the Portuguese racer in its brief statement.
“Local hero and MotoGP rider Miguel Oliveira will not be participating in the upcoming Argentina Grand Prix due to a recent injury,” began the statement from RNF Racing.
“Following his crash at the Portuguese Grand Prix, Oliveira underwent further testing in his hometown where further damage have been revealed, which doesn’t allow him to start the second GP of the season.
“Despite the setback, Oliveira remains committed to his goal of being competitive in the World Championship and will focus on his recovery in order to return to the saddle of his Aprilia RS-GP at round three of the season in Austin, Texas just two weeks later.
“The entire CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP team wishes Oliveira a speedy recovery and looks forward to his return to racing. He will not be replaced in Argentina.
“Updates regarding his condition will be released by the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team in the near future.”
Joining Oliveira and Marquez on the sidelines this weekend are Pol Espargaro – who suffered a fractured vertebra amongst other injuries in a nasty practice crash on Friday – as well as factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini, who picked up a fracture on his right shoulder after being taken out by VR46’s Luca Marini in Saturday’s sprint race.
No replacement riders have been announced for the weekend thus far, meaning only 18 riders could hit the Termas de Rio Hondo for practice on Friday.
