Alex Rins out of Emilia Romagna MotoGP: “I was struggling to breathe”
"I immediately realised that I was still not okay"
After missing Friday afternoon practice due to a high fever, Alex Rins was back on his M1 on Saturday morning at the Emilia Romagna MotoGP.
But the Spaniard was “struggling to breathe”, left last on the timesheets and didn’t reappear for qualifying.
After consultation with MotoGP medical director Dr Ángel Charte, the Monster Yamaha team has confirmed that Rins will miss the remainder of the event and focus on regaining fitness for next weekend’s Indonesian round.
“This morning I felt much better, and I wanted to try to get on the bike and go onto the track,” Rins said. “Unfortunately, I immediately realised that I was still not okay, because I was struggling to breathe.
“I wanted to complete the session, but immediately after, I had a visit from Dr Charte who advised me not to get back on the bike and instead to get treatment to be ready and 100% fit for Indonesia.
“Obviously, I am very sorry not to be able to race in Misano, but I will do everything I can to recover as soon as possible.”
Team director Massimo Meregalli added: “Unfortunately, Alex is suffering from quite a bad flu. Yesterday, we opted to postpone his work for the Practice session to today's FP2.
“He tried riding again this morning, but following the advice of Dr Charte, we decided to withdraw Álex from the Emilia-Romagna GP in order for him to be fit for the next race weekend in Mandalika.
“It's a pity, and we are all feeling sorry for Álex. He prepared well for this GP during the Misano Test but arrived here feeling under the weather, and there's nothing we could do. Let's stay positive, and next week we will start again from zero.”
Illness has affected the MotoGP paddock during both Misano rounds, with Repsol Honda Joan Mir and then Luca Marini previously forced out of the San Marino Grand Prix.
Rins’ team-mate Fabio Quartararo was second fastest in final practice, then claimed ninth on the grid in qualifying.
Indonesia is directly followed by the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
