Pol Espargaro aiming for Qatar return

When Pol Espargaro suffered his scary 250km/h accident on day two of the Sepang test, his ankles seemed to have taken the brunt of the impact.

"Right now the ankles are still quite swollen. We'll see how I feel when I arrive in Barcelona and make a resonance scan to check everything and be clear," he said before leaving Malaysia.

But instead it was a back injury that has ruled him out of this week's Thailand test.

Espargaro only began to feel the pain in his back while training upon his return to Barcelona.

He initially suspected previous nerve damage, but after further investigation at Barcelona's Hospital Universitario Quirón Dexeus it was decided to undertake surgery as soon as possible on his L4 vertebra.

KTM did not state exactly what injury was discovered by the doctors, but it is rumoured to have been a hernia.

"I began to feel pain in my back at the end of last week. I thought at first that it was a nerve issue. I've had this in the past and I know that it can be quite painful so I went to the hospital on Monday for some treatment," Espargaro explained.

"Doctor Cáceres told me it was worse than I had thought and that I would need surgery. I decided to do this as soon as possible to avoid any further problems and to allow me to focus on being fit for the beginning of the season."

As at Sepang, test rider Mika Kallio will now take Espargaro's place, meaning that the Spaniard is set to miss 4.5 out of the 9 days of pre-season testing.

"It’s a shame to miss the test in Thailand because I also missed half of the Sepang test. It is an important test for us but I believe that Mika, Brad and the whole team will do a great job.

"Now I need to focus on recovering from the surgery and then working on my physical condition to arrive as fit as possible to the last test in Qatar. This is something I didn’t expect but that I now have to deal with."

Team manager Mike Leitner added: "On the one hand it's very sad that Pol will miss the test here in Thailand, but on the other side we have to be thankful that not more happened to him at the crash at Sepang.

"The surgery was absolutely necessary and went well, he already left the hospital and now has to focus on fitness. Bradley Smith together with Mika Kallio will continue our preparations for the new season here at Chang International Circuit."

The Qatar test takes place from March 1-3 with the season-opening race at the same circuit on March 18.