After receiving approval from Dr.
Macchiagodena from the Clinica Mobile and the Losail circuit medical commission, Marco Simoncelli tried to take part in both free practices, placing 16th and 14th and riding with no painkiller injections and a different throttle that tried to reduce the movement of his wrist, however the defending 250cc World Champion has decided to withdraw from Sunday’s race: “I tried to get some laps in but I’m not confident enough to race.
I was able to do a couple of fast laps but my hand quickly got sore and I can’t ride as I’d like.
Now I’d prefer to not get back on track and race, because of the risk for the rest of the season.
With an extra few days of rest I should be fit for the Japanese GP.
”Simoncelli broke his right scaphoid while training on a motocross bike together with Valentino Rossi and underwent surgery on Tuesday.
The Italian rider won last year’s title without scoring any points in the first two rounds.
