'Not yet fit to compete' - Miguel Oliveira to miss Spanish MotoGP

Miguel Oliveira will miss this weekend’s Spanish MotoGP at Jerez, as the Pramac Yamaha rider continues to recover from a 'rare' shoulder injury.

It marks the third consecutive event Oliveira has been forced to sit out, following a sternoclavicular dislocation suffered in a Sprint race collision with rookie Fermín Aldeguer in Argentina.

“It’s a very rare injury, this luxation of the sternum and the clavicle,” Oliveira explained during a visit to the recent Qatar Grand Prix.

“I was caught by surprise because I was just expecting to break my collarbone, and in three weeks I would be fine. But it was much more tricky than that, so we need to take it step by step.”

Oliveira said he suffered a "complete tear of the tendons... But there is no way you can speed up a tendon reattachment or create scar tissue."

A Pramac statement confirmed that the latest medical checks showed that Oliveira's shoulder is improving, but still needs more time:

‘Following further medical evaluation of his left shoulder - injured during the Sprint Race in Argentina and diagnosed as a sternoclavicular dislocation - doctors have determined that, despite very positive signs of progress, Oliveira is not yet fit to compete.'

In Oliveira’s absence, Yamaha Factory test rider Augusto Fernandez will again step in, having already replaced the Portuguese at both the COTA and Qatar rounds.

Fernandez was already due to race at Jerez, for the first of six Yamaha wild-cards, but will now continue in Pramac colours.

The Spaniard is fresh from a private Yamaha test at Valencia last week, where the factory’s V4 prototype is rumoured to have been on track.

An official MotoGP test will be held at Jerez on Monday.