Alex Rins retired from the Misano MotoGP race after developing a visual disturbance and severe dizziness with around 12 laps still to run. The factory Yamaha rider said it was the first retirement of his career caused by a problem of this nature.

Rins described pain on the left side of his head that felt similar to a migraine. It had appeared around the Aragon round, where it went away after he took a painkiller before the sprint. He said there had been no comparable major episode during the Misano weekend before the race itself.

After the retirement, Rins underwent medical checks and said he saw a doctor on the Tuesday before travelling to the Red Bull Ring. By his account, everything appeared to be fine, and he was subsequently doing physiotherapy. He had no confirmed explanation for the symptoms, suggesting stress, the heat at Misano or his Silverstone crash as possible factors without presenting any of them as a diagnosis. The same report says HRC’s Joan Mir also retired at Misano because of sickness and will miss the Austrian MotoGP.