Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez will miss next Sunday's Argentinian race after undergoing an operation on his right hand the championship organisers announced on Monday.
The 30-year-old Spaniard endured a nightmare in the championship-opening Portuguese MotoGP on Sunday.
Despite starting from pole he ended the race with a broken bone in his hand and a time penalty.
He crashed and wiped out home favourite Miguel Oliveira on lap three and received a hostile reception from some of the fans on his return to the pits where he quickly made his way to the KTM rider's garage to offer his apologies.
"Marc Marquez and the Honda Team have elected for the eight-time World Champion (aside from his six MotoGP titles he has also won a Moto2 and a 125cc world crown) to miss the next round of the World Championship to fully focus on recovery and arrive at the forthcoming rounds in the best possible condition," MotoGP said in a statement.
The injury is the latest blow for Marquez, who has undergone four surgeries since crashing at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2020.
Later in the day, Oliveira was also ruled out of this weekend's race due to the incident.
First of all I want to say that I am very sorry to Oliveira, his team and the Portuguese fans because it was his race. I did a really big mistake today, of course it was not my intention to have this happen, my intention was not even to overtake Martin at that point,
— Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) March 26, 2023
"Following his crash at the Portuguese Grand Prix, Oliveira underwent further testing in his hometown where further damage have been revealed, which doesn't allow him to start the second GP of the season," Oliveira's Aprilia team said.
"Despite the setback, Oliveira remains committed to his goal of being competitive in the World Championship and will focus on his recovery in order to return to the saddle of his Aprilia RS-GP at round three of the season in Austin, Texas just two weeks later," they added.