MotoGP, Rins also misses Silverstone, Honda plans to replace him with Lecuona

Alex Rins will not be lining up on the starting line for the next MotoGP Grand Prix at Silverstone, scheduled for the weekend of 4-6 August. The absence of the Catalan, who fractured his tibia and fibula in the Mugello Sprint Race, was confirmed by the owner of the LCR team Lucio Cecchinello, who wished to reassure everyone about Rins' condition.

"He's making excellent progress, but I don't know when he'll be able to race again and when he'll be back - explained the Veneto manager to Speedweek - Alex can put the weight back on his broken leg for the first time and will therefore be able to take his first steps after the accident. If he feels well, he will return at Spielberg on August 20, or at Barcelona on September 3. We do not know yet".

With the Spanish rider forced to miss a third consecutive round, after Sachsenring and Assen, it seems that Honda has decided to revise its plans and entrust the RC213V left without Rins to Iker Lecuona, instead of fielding the 23-year-old in the Suzuka 8 Hours.

Winner of last year's classic endurance race, on a bike he shared with Tetsuta Nagashima and Takumi Takahashi, the Tokyo manufacturer had planned to defend its success by flanking the confirmed Lecuona and Takahashi with Xavi Vierge, replacing Nagashima, who is injured.

However, according to our Motorsport.com colleagues, the recovery of the Japanese rider is reported to have opened the door to a fresh return of the Valencian to MotoGP. In fact, Silverstone would be the third stand-in race done by Iker, who would step up for the first time on the LCR Honda, after already replacing Marc Marquez and Joan Mir, in Spain and the Netherlands, on the Repsol team’s RC213V.

A change of plans that would confirm the Japanese manufacturer's desire to increase Iker's confidence in the MotoGP Honda and monitor his performance on the bike, with the aim to bring back the current Honda rider in the Superbike World Championship on a permanent basis among the prototypes. With Rins closer to moving to Yamaha for 2024, Lecuona could in fact find space right among the ranks of the LCR team. Assuming that Mir doesn't decide to leave Honda after just one season with the team.