Raul Fernandez ruled out of Australian GP, adding to Phillip Island absences

Raul Fernandez has been ruled out of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, leaving the MotoGP grid with 18 riders from the scheduled 22. His absence adds to multiple withdrawals across the factory Honda HRC team: Joan Mir did not travel due to illness that sidelined him during the Asian leg, while Luca Marini missed both Saturday and Sunday after a virus limited him to only two laps in Friday’s opening practice. The biggest blow came earlier in the sprint when Jorge Martin crashed while fighting Marc Marquez. Martin fractured the radius in his right arm, with a distal ulna fracture also suspected, and is returning to Spain for further assessment and potential surgery. Fernandez, who rides for Trackhouse, is also out after aggravating injuries including a stable finger fracture and soft-tissue inflammation around it. He will travel to Malaysia for a further medical review ahead of the next triple-header, the Malaysian GP.