Aleix Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira suffered injuries after a multi-bike crash that happened at the start of the Qatar MotoGP Sprint.
In the Qatar MotoGP Sprint, Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro suffered a minor fracture on his fibula while RNF’s Miguel Oliveira suffered a broken right scapula as the rider encounters an injury-plagued campaign.
This season, Oliveira has been sidelined by multiple bike incidents on three separate occasions. The first came at Portimao when a pile-up initiated by Marc Marquez left him suffering with tendon damage on his leg. A month later, Oliveira got struck by Fabio Quartararo at Jerez which resulted in a dislocated shoulder.
However, this time round it appeared Oliveira was to blame for the incident as he seemed to have outbraked his RNF Aprilia entering Turn 6 on the first lap and crashed violently with Aprilia rider Espargaro.
“The incident between Aleix Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira is still under investigation,” said a statement from the FIM Stewards on Saturday night.
Following an initial examination at the Lusail circuit that revealed he had suffered a fractured right scapula, Oliveira’s RNF team has since disclosed that he was transported to a hospital in Qatar for the purpose of having further checks done.
The same scapula is what Ducati factory rider Enea Bastianini fractured back at Portimao, keeping him from riding since the end of March to the beginning of June.
Oliveira’s injury may not be as serious as previously believed, but it does seem likely that he will miss Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix. It also raises questions about whether he will be able to race in the season finale at Valencia next weekend and most likely, the post-season test the following week at the same venue.
Bastianini was also involved in the lap 1 incident after he was unable to steer clear of Espargaro’s Aprilia, but he managed to get back on and finish the race.
Espargaro also managed to continie racing, but after just one lap, he pulled into the pits. Similar to Oliveira, he headed to the track’s medical facility, but has not been deemed unfit despite having a minor fracture to his left fibula.
However, his condition in light of the minor ankle fracture will be assessed on Sunday morning to determine if he will be able to ride in the warm-up ahead of the race.
