As Motorsport.com reports, Honda has been forced to pull Aleix Espargaro back into MotoGP action for next weekend's race in Indonesia. It is a sudden return brought on by a severe shortage of fit riders, stemming from Joan Mir's ongoing injury absence and Takaaki Nakagami suffering a fractured collarbone that required surgery following a crash on Friday at Motegi.
The original schedule for the Spaniard did not look like this at all. Recovering from a severe spinal injury at the base of his spine from a testing crash at Sepang back in mid-April, he is actually scheduled to undergo surgery next Monday. Following a delicate five-month recovery, the Honda test rider only just got back onto a MotoGP prototype two weeks ago during a test day at Mugello. While he finished the session, his performance was still below his pre-accident level in Malaysia.
Honda initially considered calling upon Espargaro to ride Joan Mir's bike at Motegi while Mir missed both Japan and Indonesia, especially since Nakagami was already entered as a wildcard. Executives ultimately chose to bring in Somkiat Chantra from the company's World Superbike operation instead. But with the Thai rider facing a clashing race at Estoril next weekend, paired with Nakagami's fresh injury, Honda ran out of alternatives entirely.
Information obtained by Motorsport.com reveals the #41 rider has already been told to prepare for a trip to Lombok. He has not started a grand prix since last season—his first as a Honda representative—where he contested five races and secured a 16th-place finish at Assen as his best result. Nakagami breaking his left collarbone on Friday piles immense pressure on the manufacturer during a brutal phase of the season.
The real headache for Honda is not chasing immediate results, but frantically keeping the development schedule alive for next year's machine, which must adhere to new regulations and the 850cc engine. That new RC214V prototype is the very bike Fabio Quartararo is scheduled to test at Valencia on the Tuesday after the season ends. Nakagami has shouldered the development of that machine since the summer, but projections indicate he will be out of action for at least a month.
With Stefan Bradl tied to a test rider contract but currently occupied as a television commentator—raising reasonable doubts over his immediate contributions—HRC had to turn to Espargaro. They will need to manage his workload carefully, though the Spaniard himself has not ruled out extending his comeback to further grands prix depending on how Mir heals. Furthermore, Honda still has a two-day test scheduled in Malaysia for the week following the Mandalika round, and Motorsport.com understands those plans have not been cancelled. If that test happens, Espargaro is the clear choice to shoulder the development of the 850cc prototype.
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