Espargaro to miss Malaysia

Aleix Espargaro

Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro will not participate in this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix as a result of the finger injury he sustained at Phillip Island on Sunday.

Espargaro, while battling among the leading group, went wide through Turn 1 and crashed heavily, sustaining a fracture to the fourth metacarpus of his left hand in the process.

Espargaro commented in the aftermath of the accident that he expected to be able to compete in Malaysia, but announced on Tuesday that he will skip the event to undergo surgery.

"The idea after the injury was to avoid surgery and to try to race here in Malaysia," he said.

"Unfortunately, the situation is forcing me to go back home for surgery so that I will be able to fully recover for Valencia.

"We agreed to have the surgery done on Thursday in Barcelona.

"It was an unfortunate crash, but I am already focused on the last race of the season where I want to demonstrate the level that the Aprilia RS-GP and I have reached."

Aprilia will not field a replacement rider, meaning it will be represented by only Sam Lowes at Sepang.

Espargaro holds 13th position in the championship, with a best finish of sixth, achieved in Qatar and Aragon.