Overview
- Honda confirmed on Tuesday that Joan Mir will ride at the Malaysian Grand Prix after a 44-day absence that followed his retirement at Misano.
- Initial medical checks showed 'altered blood parameters,' MotoGP medical director Dr Angel Charte said the results were inconclusive and ordered further examinations.
- Mir says doctors gave him the green light and that limited riding on other bikes in the run-up has been used to prepare him to reconnect with the team and check his feeling at Sepang.
- Luca Marini is hopeful of returning at Sepang but must pass a pre-event medical test, and the pair’s recent absences left Honda short of riders at Phillip Island and stretched team operations.
- Mir’s return comes with his move to BK8 Gresini Racing on a Ducati already agreed for next season, making the remaining races a cautious, short-term test of his fitness and Honda’s plans.