Marc Marquez withdraws, replaced by Bradl

Injured MotoGP champion Marc Marquez will not score any points from at least the opening three rounds of the 2020 season after confirming his withdraw from this weekend's Brno round.

The Repsol Honda team also announced that HRC test rider Stefan Bradl will take Marc's place, alongside younger brother Alex, in the Czech Republic.

'After undergoing a second operation on his injured right arm, Marc Marquez and HRC have decided that the World Champion will not ride in the Czech Republic in order for him to recover more,' said a team statement.

'In his place, HRC test rider Stefan Bradl will mount the Honda RC213V.'

Marquez fractured his right arm in a huge highside at the season-opening Jerez race on July 19, undergoing surgery two days later before attempting a miraculous return the following weekend.

But after building his pace steadily during two Free Practice sessions, Marquez suddenly began to lose strength.

"It was like inflammation or something. The arm got a little bit bigger and maybe pressed some nerve. I was losing power," he said.

When the issue continued at the start of qualifying, Marquez withdrew from Jerez to focus on recovering for this weekend's event in the Czech Republic.

However, the Spaniard has now been forced to undergo a second round of surgery after 'the titanium plate used to fix his right humerus was found to have suffered damage due to stress accumulation'.

Presumably, that damage (some rumours even suggest the plate was broken) was caused by the physical exertion of riding at Jerez, rather than Marquez's subsequent gym training, which he has documented on social media:

Either way, with just a few days to go before free practice starts at Brno, Marquez and Repsol Honda decided that he should miss the event.

But with Brno kicking off the first of four triple-headers this season, Marquez only has one more week to recover if he is to return for the opening Red Bull Ring race on August 16.

Amid speculation that Marquez now plans to miss all three races of the opening triple-header, Repsol Honda told Crash.net that a decision on Marc's fitness will be made on a race-by-race basis and that Austria next week is still undecided.

Already 50 points down on double Jerez winner Fabio Quartararo and 40 from Maverick Vinales, Marquez must now hope that other riders - such as Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso - can deny the Yamaha duo of further one-two finishes.

Otherwise, if Quartararo leaves Brno with a maximum 75 points, for example, Marquez would need to outscore the Frenchman by an average of almost 7 points over the following 11 rounds.

Meanwhile, Bradl will be making his first MotoGP start since last year's Austrian round. The ban on wild-cards for 2020 meant the German was not expected to race the RC213V at all this year.

“First of all I want to wish Marc a speedy recovery, what he did in Jerez was incredible and he showed that he has the true spirit of a champion," Bradl said.

"I am looking forward to riding the Honda RC213V again, due to the global pandemic we have not been able to test as we would normally so it will take some time to adjust to the bike and MotoGP again but I have ridden the superbike a few times so I know my fitness is good.

"It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to, competing with the Repsol Honda Team is always a great honour and I am pleased to help Honda. Let’s see how the weekend goes."