LCR Honda racer Somkiat Chantra has suffered damage to the ligaments of his right knee in a training crash while riding an off-road bike, necessitating surgery and forcing the Thai MotoGP rookie to sit out the next two rounds of the championship.
Chantra's absence creates a situation that may well force Honda to look at unusual options to replace him given the existing workload of its current test rider roster.
“After medical evaluation by a specialist, it has been confirmed that he has sustained an injury to the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee and will require surgery, scheduled for next Tuesday [July 8] at Hospital Universitari Dexeus,” Chantra's LCR team confirmed in a statement.
Adding that Chantra will miss the upcoming grands prix at the Sachsenring and Brno, the team has not yet set a time for his return - a situation that could ultimately even stretch beyond MotoGP’s three-week summer break given the complications that often arise from knee injuries, something seen in the past in MotoGP with both Franco Morbidelli and Bradley Smith.
LCR's statement did not make mention of a replacement for Chantra, who has had a difficult rookie season - with any momentum snuffed out first by the need to get arm pump surgery and now by this injury.
It's something of a complication for Honda, given that it's already down one rider following the injuries sustained by factory Castrol HRC racer Luca Marini last month while testing the team’s Suzuka 8 Hour machine.
Marini has run in a private test with Honda recently at Brno, and is expected to try to race at the Sachsenring. But any setback would presumably mean a return for Taka Nakagami - who had already impressively deputised for Marini at Mugello.
LCR, in theory, is not required to replace Chantra in Germany by rules but may need to do so at Brno.
Should Honda's ranks require two stand-ins, the complication is that Honda’s other leading test rider Aleix Espargaro (who replaced Marini at the last round in Assen) is likely to be unavailable for any of the upcoming rounds, as he instead heads to Austria to make his debut as a professional cyclist as part of top team Lidl-Trek’s development squad at the Tour of Austria.
Third test rider Stefan Bradl, now relegated largely to initial development and reliability work following the additions of Espargaro and Nakagami to the squad at the start of this season, rode what he believed to be his last wildcard appearance at the final round of 2024.
But he would presumably be asked about a potential return in case of any further injury complications at Honda, which could also turn to its World Superbike roster (given there's a calendar clash with the Sachsenring but not with Brno).
