Mir in for COTA MotoGP as Bradl set to replace injured Marquez
Following the news of Marc Marquez' absence from the US MotoGP race, HRC has confirmed his replacement as Stefan Bradl. Joan Mir will also return.
Joan Mir will return to action in the MotoGP World Championship this weekend at the Grand Prix of the Americas, while Stefan Bradl will replace Marc Marquez.
Yesterday, it was announced by the Repsol Honda Team that Marc Marquez will not be travelling to Austin, Texas, this weekend for the third round of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship as he continues to recover from the broken first metacarpal he sustained at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
This morning (12 April 2023), Marquez’ replacement has been confirmed as Stefan Bradl, the HRC MotoGP test rider, which is as expected. Bradl last raced at the Circuit of the Americas in the 2016 MotoGP race there when he rode for Aprilia. He also competed there aboard the satellite Honda RC213V of the LCR team between 2013 and 2015.
Joan Mir will also travel to Austin, Texas, for the Grand Prix of the Americas. As with any rider returning from injury - Mir having sustained cervical and cranial trauma in the sprint race at Argentina two weeks ago - the 2020 World Champion will be forced to pass a medical examination on Thursday to determine whether or not he is fit to ride.
Joan Mir said: “I am ready to get back on the bike in America, I have been able to spend this week at home recovering fully after the fall on Saturday and getting back to training. Last year I had a strong race in Austin and Honda also has a very strong record there, so the objective is to have a consistent weekend and avoid problems.
“If we can get a complete race weekend under our belts, I think we will be able to learn a lot and make another step because in the two races are where you are learning the most about the Honda.”
Stefan Bradl said: “First of all I want to wish Marc all the best in his recovery, as Honda we need him back on track. I arrive in Austin after a few days testing in Jerez where we were able to try a few things with the bike.
“It will be interesting to ride COTA again, I was last there racing in 2016 and will give me a chance to try the 2023 RC213V on a very different kind of track compared to what I have ridden so far this year. Let’s have a productive weekend and see what’s possible.”
This article was originally published on 11 April 2023, and was updated with the above text on 12 April 2023. The original article text can be read below.
The Repsol Honda Team has announced that Marc Marquez will miss this weekend’s MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas.
Marquez has been absent from MotoGP since his lap three crash in Portimao that saw him also take out Miguel Oliveira, who Crash.net reports will at least attempt to ride at the Grand Prix of the Americas this weekend.
In the Portimao crash, Marquez broke a thumb, on which he had an operation on the Monday after the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The surgery for Marquez meant that he was forced to miss the Argentinian Grand Prix at Termas de Rio Hondo the week after the Portuguese race, and the latest news from Repsol Honda is that the Spaniard will also miss this weekend’s Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
The decision for Marquez to miss this weekend’s race in Austin comes after a CAT scan revealed his broken metacarpal to still be in the “healing process,” a Repsol Honda press release reads, and was taken by Marquez in conjunction with his medical team, led by Dr. Ignacio Roger de Oña at the Ruber Internacional Hospital in Madrid.
Marquez’ absence from Austin is a blow to his title chances. He sits already 34 points behind 2022 World Champion Francesco Bagnaia, and 43 points behind championship leader and Argentinian Grand Prix winner Marco Bezzecchi, with the now expectation that this deficit will be increased further this weekend.
The thumb injury that Marquez left Portimao with is the latest in a catalogue of issues the eight-times World Champion has suffered since the beginning of the 2020 season. Then, Marquez broke his right humerus which kept him out for the whole season. At the end of 2021, he had a reappearance of the diplopia that emerged from his season-ending crash at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix; and this returned again after Marquez’ huge Indonesian high side at the beginning of 2022. After returning from diplopia in early-2022, Marquez was then on the sidelines again for much of the middle of the 2022 season following a fourth surgery on the aforementioned right humerus bone.
Marquez' teammate, Joan Mir, also missed the Argentinian Grand Prix after a crash in the Argentinian Sprint left him with cranial and cervical trauma. His participation in the Grand Prix of the Americas remains unconfirmed, although that was officially the target after his crash in Argentina. Stefan Bradl is likely to be named as Marquez' replacement in Texas.
The 2023 MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas, round three of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship, will take place this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
