Declared unfit to continue the Malaysia weekend after a crash at Turn 4 during pre-qualifying, Jacob Roulstone will also be forced to miss the entire weekend in Portugal.
Operated at Barcelona's Teknon Hospital to reduce the fracture in his left hand that emerged from post-incident checks, the Australian wanted to directly inform his fans with a video posted on Facebook in which he not only talked about himself, but also dedicated a few words to his colleagues Dettwiler and Rueda, protagonists of a spectacular collision during the Sepang GP formation lap.
"Hello everyone. I would like to update you on what has happened in the last eventful week both for me and for the MotoGP community - were his words - As many will have seen there was an accident before the Moto3 race on Sunday and it's good to know that Noah and Jose are okay. Noah in particular is in stable condition. He was my first teammate when I was racing in Spain, so I was very scared and it is good to know that he is improving."
"I slid off while pushing during pre-qualifying on Friday afternoon. I thought it was nothing, but then I started to feel pain and unfortunately I found out I had a fracture with rotation of the fifth metacarpal of my left hand," he then revealed.
"The operation went well. They had to put in a screw and some wire, but it was okay. After a night in the hospital I was discharged. I am now doing oxygen therapy every day, which is similar to the hyperbaric chamber, and I am already feeling progress. Unfortunately, however, I won't be able to be present in Portimao. I am disappointed because in Malaysia I felt very comfortable on the bike after struggling for a long time. I will have another meeting with the surgeon on Tuesday to see how the recovery is progressing and hopefully I will be back on track at Valencia," he concluded.
While waiting to have its official rider back at full duty, the KTM Tech3 team announced that Joel Esteban, already his replacement in winter testing after the 20-year-old was injured in training, will race in his place in the Portuguese round.