Honda HRC Castrol has withdrawn the number 41 machine from the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika, ending Aleix Espargaró’s participation before the race. The decision followed a difficult Saturday in which the Spaniard crashed in practice and finished last in the Sprint.

Espargaró had been called in to replace Joan Mir during a weekend when Takaaki Nakagami was unavailable because of injury and Somkiat Chantra had WorldSBK duties. It was Espargaró’s first MotoGP race weekend of the year. His previous racing activity had been interrupted by multiple spinal fractures suffered at Sepang in April, injuries that kept him away from testing for almost six months.

A comeback that demanded too much physically

After the Sprint, Espargaró explained that he lacked the arm strength needed to manage a change of direction and lost the front. His approach had been to reach the finish without taking unnecessary risks or pushing beyond his physical limits. He also warned that completing the full Grand Prix would be substantially harder because racing requires many consecutive laps at a high pace.

Honda linked the withdrawal to Espargaró’s continuing physical discomfort, the period of inactivity following his injuries and the specific physical demands of the Mandalika International Circuit. His return therefore ended before the full distance, with the team turning its attention to the next part of the testing programme.

A two-day test with Honda’s 850 cc prototype

Espargaró will travel directly to Sepang for a two-day test with Honda’s 850 cc MotoGP prototype. He explained that testing normally allows two or three consecutive laps, whereas a race demands sustained effort over a much longer period. A decision on Joan Mir’s return will be needed before Phillip Island; Mir remains sidelined by an undisclosed illness.