Honda in conundrum over Somkiat Chantra stand-in for MotoGP Austrian GP

Somkiat Chantra will not be at the Red Bull Ring for MotoGP’s Austrian Grand Prix next weekend, and Honda has struggled to find a replacement.

Chantra got injured on 4 July on an off-road training ride near Barcelona and underwent surgery on 8 July to treat the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee.

The Thai rider has missed the German and Czech grands prix, with LCR replacing him with Honda test rider Takaaki Nakagami at Brno. However, Nakagami got injured on the first lap of the sprint race.

Chantra’s replacement is marked as TBC on the Austrian GP entry list. Honda’s other test rider, Aleix Espargaro, is also injured following a cycling crash in a Tour of Austria.

Honda had reached an agreement with its World Superbike rider Iker Lecuona for the Austrian and Hungarian grands prix, but the Spaniard got injured in the WorldSBK round at Hungary’s Balaton Park.

Stefan Bradl has been considered, but the German rider is not interested. Another option is WorldSBK Honda rider Xavi Vierge, who has never ridden a MotoGP bike.

The final alternative would be test rider Tetsuta Nagashima, who has not competed in the world championship since 2022. Back then, he raced in the Japanese GP as an HRC wildcard and contested the Thai, Australian and Malaysian rounds with LCR Honda, standing in for injured Nakagami at the time.

Vinales returns

Meanwhile, the Red Bull Tech3 KTM MotoGP team has entered Maverick Vinales for the Austrian GP, one month on from his serious crash at the Sachsenring.

Vinales suffered a spectacular crash at the start of Q2 for the German GP on 13 July, which left him with a fractured shoulder and caused him to miss both the Sachsenring round and the Czech GP. He was replaced in the latter by KTM test rider Pol Espargaro.

Up until then, Vinales had been one of KTM’s most competitive riders in the 2025 season, although his best result – second in Argentina – was taken away due to a tyre pressure breach. The Spaniard sits 11th in the drivers’ championship with 69 points – 55 behind fellow KTM rider Pedro Acosta, who is seventh overall.