Joan Mir will miss this weekend’s Austrian MotoGP, to be replaced by HRC test rider Takaaki Nakagami.
Mir endured a tough Misano MotoGP last weekend when he was dealing with an illness throughout the three days that depleted his energy.
The 2020 MotoGP champion went to Barcelona after the San Marino race to have tests, but no diagnosis has been determined. As such, more tests are due to be run and in the meantime Mir will rest.
Mir will be replaced at the Red Bull Ring by official Honda test rider Takaaki Nakagami, who was in action recently at an 850cc test at Mugello, so will have to re-adapt to 1,000cc machinery and Michelin tyres this weekend.
“I arrive in Austria straight from a private test in Mugello, but we have been doing a lot of different testing of a lot of different bikes,” said Nakagami ahead of the Austria weekend.
“This weekend will be about getting back up to speed completely with the RC213V and the Michelin tyres ahead of my wildcard at home in Motegi.
“Of course, I am sure that we will take this opportunity to try a couple of things that maybe the team wouldn’t normally so we can be well prepared for the future.
“The main thing is to make sure that Joan [Mir] is okay, this is the key point in this difficult moment for him.”
This will be Nakagami’s first appearance of 2026, but will serve as a kind of warm-up event for Nakagami ahead of his planned wildcard at Motegi at the start of the flyaway season on 2–4 October.
