Injury savaged MotoGP runners-up to field one bike due to broken back

Fermin Aldeguer fractured a vertebra in his back last time out at the Dutch event and hasn’t recovered sufficiently during the week since.

As such, Alex Marquez, who also had a bloody tumble in Assen, will be their sole challenger at the fan-favourite Sachsenring.

The Italian Ducati-powered team wrote in a statement:

Their ‘pairs’ comment referenced earlier news that last season’s riders’ championship runner-up, Alex Marquez, will be leaving the team.

The Spaniard will depart for factory squad KTM at the end of the season, signing on a ‘multi-year’ deal.

Marquez has won four Grands Prix in Gresini colours, including the Spanish event in Jerez in April this year. A Moto3 and Moto2 champion, he finished runner-up last season in MotoGP to elder brother Marc.

Marquez’s departure was already known, though, with Gresini unveiling their 2027 line-up of 2020 champion Joan Mir and Moto2 talent Dani Holgado.

As for Aldeguer, he’s heavily rumoured to be heading to VR46 Racing next year.

Gresini will be desperate for a return to their 2025 form with their new pairing, given this season has been struck by injury hell.

In Assen last time out, Aldeguer suffered a heavy crash at turn 11 during Friday practice and required medical assistance trackside.

He was later diagnosed with a fracture to the T7 vertebra, ruling him out of the rest of the weekend and the German Grand Prix.

On top of that, the 21-year-old Spaniard has been in pain all of 2026 with a rod inserted into his leg after a January training crash.

Speaking after his Assen tumble, he stayed at the Netherlands track and told DAZN:

Teammate Marquez also suffered an incident in practice, and was left with bloody burns after his left glove fell off during the crash.

Explaining the painful-looking incident to GPBlog and the media present, he said:

It certainly wasn’t a nice image for Marquez, but in Catalunya four races earlier things were far more scary.

During Sunday’s Grand Prix Pedro Acosta’s KTM suddenly slowed up unprompted on the back straight, and Marquez flew into it, slicing his Gresini in half and tumbling down the side of the track.

Marquez fractured the C7 neck vertebra and broke his collar bone in three different places, missing the next two race weekends as a result before returning in Czechia, only to not start the race due to pain.

Michele Pirro subbed in for the first race, and Iker Lecuona for the second, with the latter picking up nine vital points in seventh.

Yet the injuries have still taken a massive toll on Gresini, who are sixth in the standings after last season's second, taking 16.3 points per event, compared to 30.9 in 2025.