Alex Marquez cleared to practice as Bastianini ruled out

MotoGP title contender Alex Marquez has received the green light to take part in Free Practice 1 at the German Grand Prix this weekend.

The Gresini Ducati rider, who is recovering from a hand injury sustained at Assen last time out, was passed fit for Friday morning by MotoGP’s medical team today (10 July).

But the Spaniard will need to get through a further fitness test following the session in order to compete for the rest of the weekend.

Although he may not be able to ride to his full potential at the Sachsenring, Marquez will be looking to limit the points damage to his championship campaign.

While he is the number one challenger to leader Marc Marquez, he is 68 points adrift of his champion-elect brother. His main target may be to defend his 58-point lead over third-placed Francesco Bagnaia.

Alex picked up the injury at the Dutch Grand Prix on 29 June in an accident involving KTM rider Pedro Acosta and an unfortunate touch on Marquez’s brake lever.

Subsequent surgery set the 29-year-old Catalan on the road to recovery and allowed him to travel to Germany with every hope of being passed fit to compete in the race. Thursday’s successful medical completes the first step of that process. 

“There is zero pain from the fracture, just the tendon is a little bit stiff,” said Alex Marquez.

“I feel quite OK, especially because it’s the left hand. If it was the right hand, it would have been impossible to ride because you need to use it a lot for braking. 

“The main goal is to do FP1 and see how my body reacts. But at the moment I feel ready to do the whole weekend.”  

Alex underlined that it was his better-than-expected position in the title race that has brought him back to the track at the earliest possible opportunity.

“We are between both the official Ducatis, fighting with the eight-time champion that is Marc… and we are in front of Pecco [Bagnaia] so it’s super good, and for that reason I am here,” he added. “If it was a different situation, I would prefer to rest and take time to come back.”

Enea Bastianini, Red Bull KTM Tech 3

Photo by: KTM Images

Meanwhile, Tech3 KTM rider Enea Bastianini has been ruled out of the German Grand Prix after being diagnosed with appendicitis.

The Italian’s late withdrawal is another setback in a miserable season for the 27-year-old. He has scored only 43 points thus far and lies 16th in the championship, which makes him the lowest-placed of the four KTM riders.

Bastianini’s recovery from appendicitis would have to be a quick one should he wish to take part in the next race in the Czech Republic, given that it takes place next weekend.