UPDATE: Pol Espargaro pulls out of Dutch MotoGP: 'I did not expect this pain'

"Due to the continued pain caused by the injuries sustained in Germany," came the statement from Repsol Honda ahead of Saturday's Free Practice 3 and Qualifying.

While the Spaniard appeared to be back on form during Friday morning’s wet FP1 - finished third quickest - it was a drying track in FP2 which brought back the pain he suffered with in Sachsenring. 

Espargaro injured his ribs during the second of his two FP1 crashes last weekend, before having to retire from the Grand Prix as the pain became too much. 

Speaking about his solid performance in FP1, Espargaro said: "In the morning we were able to do a good job. In the wet it is less physically demanding and we were able to ride in a decent way. I wasn’t feeling much pain because of this so I could be fast and was P3."

However, the afternoon generated much different feelings from the Repsol Honda rider: "I did not expect the situation I have now. If I'm not able to ride fast and perform well, there is no sense to ride'.

Worse than I expect [rib injury], I expected to be much better here. In the afternoon when I pushed, I felt straight away my ribs started to hurt quite a lot and then also my back. So the situation is difficult.

"I did not expect the situation I have now. I did not expect to feel so bad as I feel now. 

"So I'm going to take some treatments, some anti-inflammatories and see how this reacts for tomorrow and see if I'm able to ride and if I'm able to ride fast. Because if I'm not able to ride fast and perform well, there is no sense to ride.

"I'm going to treat [the injury] as best as I can [tonight] - as I've been doing at home. Monday after the race in Sachsenring, I couldn't even [get] off the bed. Tuesday and Wednesday were better. But yeah, I'm struggling."

‘I don’t understand’ - Honda MotoGP test rider Stefan Bradl left confused after FP2, but why?

While it wasn’t a great day for Espargaro, the same could also be said for Bradl who suffered a turn nine crash in FP2.

It’s a fall which left the German rider, who had strong words to say about Honda post-Sachsenring, confused as to what happened.

Bradl added: "We had a crash at Turn 9 today, it wasn’t really a great day overall. In the morning it honestly wasn’t too bad and I was happy with where my speed was. 

"In the afternoon as the track became dry, I tried to push a little bit more and lost the front. Luckily, I am physically OK but I don’t really understand why I crashed there which is frustrating. 

"Tomorrow is a new day and the weather looks better, so we keep on working and trying to go faster."