Joan Mir, what's going on? The Honda rider is forced to miss two more Grands Prix

The two-time world champion, already absent in Spielberg, will not return to racing soon: HRC and Charte have explained the situation.

A difficult moment for Joan Mir. After having to miss the Austrian Grand Prix, he will also be forced to sit out the upcoming MotoGP Grands Prix in Japan and Indonesia. The Honda HRC team announced it this morning, explaining that the rider has continued to undergo a series of tests at the Dexeus University Hospital in Barcelona, under the care of Dr. Angel Charte and his medical team.

The goal has been to identify the cause of a series of symptoms Mir has been suffering from for several months, whose recent worsening forced him to retire from the GP at Misano and prevented him from racing at the Red Bull Ring. The initial in-depth tests had revealed altered blood parameters, which is why it was decided he would skip the Austrian GP.

The new tests carried out have not yet yielded conclusive results, and Dr. Angel Charte has recommended absolute rest and rehabilitative therapy for the next 15 days. This means missing Motegi and Mandalika. At the moment, the Honda HRC team has not yet announced which rider will replace the Majorcan.

Dr. Angel Charte commented on the rider’s situation: "For several months Joan Mir has reported a series of symptoms affecting his energy and performance, with a recent worsening of the situation. The cause has not yet been ascertained. Given the persistence and severity of the symptoms, Mir is undergoing a series of tests at the Dexeus University Hospital in order to reach a definitive diagnosis. Due to the symptoms, the doctor advises him to observe complete rest and undergo several therapies over the next 15 days. Consequently, I have advised him against participating in the Japanese and Indonesian Grands Prix. His condition will continue to be closely monitored by my team."

The two-time world champion has not been in perfect condition for some time, and this has affected his performance and results on track. He preferred not to talk about it, even accepting to receive a lot of criticism for the various crashes he has accumulated, but at this point something is emerging that is important to know in order to paint a more complete picture of the situation. The hope is to arrive at a definitive diagnosis so that Mir can fully recover and return to racing in MotoGP as soon as possible.

At the Austrian GP he was replaced by test rider Takaaki Nakagami, whose participation in the Japanese GP had already been planned as a wild card. We will see whether he is ultimately chosen to line up alongside Luca Marini in the Honda MotoGP garage, or whether another rider will get the nod. Aleix Espargaro, another HRC test rider, recently returned to riding in the Mugello test after physical issues that kept him off the bike for months. For Motegi, an alternative could also be to look to the Superbike World Championship, where Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra are racing.

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