MotoGP 2025 champion Marc Marquez will miss the next two rounds due to the injury he sustained at Mandalika - his first injury absence since joining Ducati.
An opening-lap crash in the Indonesian Grand Prix, when Marquez was hit by Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi, has left Marquez with "a fracture at the base of the coracoid process [part of the shoulder blade] and a ligament injury to his right shoulder" - as determined in an examination at the Ruber Internacional Hospital in Madrid.
Ducati has clarified that the injury doesn't have "any connection with previous injuries" and that there is no "significant bone displacement".
No surgical intervention is required - Marquez will instead carry out a "conservative treatment plan, involving rest and immobilisation of the affected shoulder until full healing and clinical consolidation of the fracture", which means he cannot race at the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, nor the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
The absences mean Marquez can no longer beat his own record of most grand prix wins in a season - 13 - in 2025.
Sepang is one of Marquez's least-favoured tracks on the MotoGP calendar, but he is a long-time Phillip Island standout so would've been expected to enter that weekend as favourite for victory.
"Fortunately, the injury isn’t severe, but it’s important to respect the recovery timeline," Marquez was quoted as saying by Ducati.
"My goal is to be back before the end of the season, but without rushing things beyond the doctors’ recommendations.
"Both my personal and the team’s main goals have been achieved [riders', teams' and constructors' titles] so now the priority is to recover properly and return at 100%."
Ducati test rider Michele Pirro would be the no-brainer pick to stand in for Marquez at both rounds. In his role, Pirro contested at least a single MotoGP round in every season since 2013 - but he is yet to race this season, with Ducati not permitted any wildcards due to its 'Rank A' concession status.
