What a brutal turnaround for Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team). After a brilliant Sunday to remember last year on The Island, this weekend has turned into a Saturday to forget as he retired from the MotoGP Sprint and completely withdraws from any further action in Australia.
Here is the thing: the British GP winner was in a great spot, ready to fire off from the second row of the grid for Sunday's 27-lapper. Unfortunately, the fracture to his right index finger suffered at Mandalika two weeks ago proved simply too painful for the #25 to continue.
While the fracture itself is stable, severe inflammation to the soft tissue around the injury has brought an abrupt halt to his weekend. Because of this, he has been officially declared unfit ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix next week at Sepang.
Thankfully, he is not giving up the fight just yet. He will still travel to Malaysia to seek further medical attention, with his sights firmly set on being back to fight at the front as soon as possible.
