Works Honda team runs out of riders for Australian GP
The factory Honda MotoGP team will play no further part in the Australian Grand Prix weekend having effectively run out of riders.
Luca Marini was already representing the team solo at Phillip Island but was unwell on Friday and only completed two slow practice laps.
Honda then announced just before Saturday track action started that Marini would not be able to compete this weekend after being declared unfit by MotoGP medical director Dr Angel Charte.
"For the past week, Luca Marini has been suffering from a viral condition and a high fever for three to four days," said Dr Charte.
"For the last 48 to 72 hours, he has been suffering from muscle weakness caused by the virus, affecting both his upper and lower body.
"During the last examination, conducted on Saturday morning, he presented with the same symptoms and was declared unfit."
Marini's team-mate Joan Mir has been absent since mid-September due to an illness that his medical team were struggling to fully diagnose.
There have been suggestions in the paddock this weekend that Mir might be ready to try to return to MotoGP at next week's Malaysian GP - where Marini will also be assessed again.
Though Honda was also in this situation as recently as the September 2024 Misano event, where both Mir and Marini also pulled out with illnesses, the situation is made more bizarre this time by the lack of stand-in options as its two main test riders are both injured.
Taka Nakagami impressed as Mir's Austrian GP replacement but then broke his collarbone in a crash on his very first lap of the following event in Japan.
Aleix Espargaro got the next call-up - with the Indonesian GP his first MotoGP appearance since injuring his back in a test crash in April - but Espargaro withdrew mid-weekend and has since headed for arm pump surgery.
Former LCR rider Somkiat Chantra - now part of Honda's factory World Superbike squad - was also used as Mir's stand-in for Motegi, where Nakagami's aborted entry was as an already-planned wildcard - but Honda has indicated it is keeping him focused on Superbike testing this week.
