Joan Mir’s injury and Takaaki Nakagami’s fractured collarbone, which required surgery after Friday’s crash at Motegi, have forced Honda to call up Aleix Espargaro, who will return to MotoGP action next weekend in Indonesia, Motorsport.com has learned.
The initial plan was for the Spaniard to continue recovering from the severe injury he suffered to the base of his spine in a testing crash at Sepang in mid-April, for which he is due to undergo surgery next Monday. After a delicate recovery period that lasted five months, Honda’s test rider returned to a MotoGP prototype two weeks ago during a test day at Mugello. Although he was able to complete the session, his performance was still some way below the level he had shown before the accident in Malaysia.
