Marc Marquez out of French, Catalan MotoGP rounds after massive sprint crash

Ducati has announced that Marc Marquez will miss the French Grand Prix and next week’s Catalan Grand Prix after a huge crash in the MotoGP Le Mans sprint.

The reigning world champion suffered a huge highside on the penultimate lap of Saturday’s sprint at Le Mans while running seventh.

He had to be helped to his paddock office when he returned to the Ducati garage, before going to the medical centre for checks, where he was spotted putting no weight on his right foot.

Ducati has now confirmed he suffered a fracture in his right foot and will return to Madrid tonight for surgery in the coming days.

As a result, he will miss Sunday’s French Grand Prix, as well as the Catalan Grand Prix next weekend.

A statement from Ducati read: “Following the crash during the sprint at [the] French GP and after a medical check and X-ray, Marc was declared unfit with a fifth metatarsal fracture in his right foot.

“He will fly to Madrid this night for undergo surgery in the next days.

“He will not participate in [the] Catalan GP next week. We will send you more info as soon as we can.”

This news comes as another huge blow to Marc Marquez's title defence, which has already gotten off to a poor start across the opening five rounds. 

Marquez has failed to finish two grands prix already and is yet to stand on the podium on a Sunday, though does have two sprint wins to his credit. 

After crashing out of Saturday's sprint at Le Mans, he is now 51 points down on Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi in the standings. 

The Ducati rider has continued to struggle with the shoulder he injured in a collision at the Indonesian Grand Prix last October. 

At Le Mans, Marquez came through Q1 with a new lap record and managed to qualify second on the grid, though admitted afterwards that he couldn't understand how to ride right now. 

In the sprint, he slumped to seventh in the opening laps and made no inroads before he crashed out.

Marquez's struggles in France come as Ducati looks to have made a step forward in recent weeks, with Alex Marquez winning in Spain and Pecco Bagnaia on pole at Le Mans. 

The Spaniard has since confirmed he was already due to have surgery on his injured shoulder after the Barcelona race, as a damaged screw has been causing him nerve issues.