Joan Mir will miss this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone having not fully recovered from the pulmonary contusion he suffered in his Brno test crash a few weeks ago.
Mir crashed at over 300km/h while lapping in the post-race MotoGP test at Brno, the Spaniard flying off into the Turn 1 gravel trap. His lungs were most affected in the crash, with the slight bruising remaining being the main factor in him skipping the Silverstone contest.
He has also been unable to train while recovering from his injuries, with ‘a general feeling of weakness’ also stated as a reason for Mir’s extended rest period.
Suzuki test-rider Sylvain Guintoli will take Mir’s place for the British round of the championship, joining Alex Rins.
It will be Guintoli’s third premier class appearance of 2019, having competed in scheduled wild-card races at Barcelona and at Brno.
He scored points with 13th overall in Spain, while despite showing impressive pace in the mixed-conditions during Friday and Saturday at Brno he came home as the last classified runner in 20th position.
“It’s a big pity that Joan has to miss the Silverstone race as well, but we feel that it is very important for him to recover fully and get back to being 100% fit,” said Suzuki MotoGP team manager Davide Brivio.
“After having discussed with the doctors following his checks today we took the decision together that he will miss the Grand Prix of Great Britain and instead get back on the bike next week.
“For this reason, our test rider, Sylvain Guintoli, currently testing in Finland, will replace Joan and we will try to use this weekend to get very valuable information.”
Mir has had a promising but tough start to his rookie year in MotoGP, having stepped up after his maiden year in Moto2 last year after taking the 2017 Moto3 championship.
His best result so far is sixth in the Catalan GP having struggled so far to match the pace of Rins, the third year racer having taken Suzuki’s first victory since 2016 earlier this year at the Circuit of the Americas.
He was starting to make progress though just prior to his test crash, and will be hoping to continue his development at Misano in just under a month’s time.
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