Marini hurt at Suzuka, Ogura hopeful of Aragon GP return

Factory Honda rider Luca Marini has dislocated his hip in a fall while testing for the Suzuka 8 Hours.

The Italian crashed heavily on his second day of testing at the legendary Japanese venue, where the classic endurance race will take place on 3 August.

Apart from the dislocated hip, Marini also suffered left knee ligament damage as well as fractures in his sternum and left collarbone. He has also sustained a pneumothorax.

Marini, who was classified 15th in last Sunday’s British Grand Prix following a 16-second tyre pressure penalty, was taken to hospital and stabilised. He will remain under observation until he is deemed fit to travel.

Whether he can contest the next MotoGP race, which takes place at Aragon in Spain next weekend, remains unclear.

Marini will in any case not take part in the 8 Hours, after it was decided this week that the difference in height between the taller Marini and Takumi Takahashi was too much for them to share the same bike.

LCR Honda MotoGP rider Johann Zarco will remain the star 8 Hours attraction on the factory bike as planned. He will now share it with former MotoGP rider Iker Lecuona as well as Takahashi.

Ogura injury update

In other injury news, Trackhouse Aprilia has released an update on its star rookie Ai Ogura following the Japanese rider’s crash at the British GP.

Ogura withdrew from the Silverstone weekend after a fall in Free Practice 1 last Friday resulted in a fracture to his right tibia, just below the knee.

Following surgery earlier this week, the team says it is hopeful that the 24-year-old will be able to return to action at Aragon.

“The surgery is done,” Ogura said in a Trackhouse statement. “I think everything went quite well and I feel pretty OK with my knee. I just need a bit of time to get back to 100% fitness. It’s quite difficult and we will see if I can make it to Aragon.

“I’m trying to do what I can to recover my leg but, in situations like these, you can’t do too much. I will just do what I can and prepare for the next race.”