Alex Rins returns to Madrid, seeking answers for leg pain

The LCR Honda rider, who fractured his right tibia and fibula at Mugello, was a competitive twelfth quickest on Friday at Phillip Island.

But the Spaniard continues to struggle with pain from the injury, requiring anaesthetic in Indonesia, and MotoGP Doctors advised him to halt his Australian weekend and undergo further scans.

“I spoke with [MotoGP’s] Doctor Charte, who had spoken with my doctors in Madrid. And they said the best option is to make a CT scan on the leg,” Rins said.

“We went to Melbourne to make this CT scan. Luckily, also with the crash [on Friday] and with the effort I did in Mandalika there were no displacements of the plates, the bones and everything.”

That also means there is no clear cause for the pain Rins is experiencing, which seems to be different to the nerve issues earlier in his recovery,

“In Mandalika, I was using some anaesthetic. But [it only works] for 10-13 laps and putting every time anaesthetic on the leg you can get inflammation. You can get something bad on the muscle,” Rins said.

“I will fly to Madrid [on Sunday], check with my doctors and make a plan. If we can go to Burnham, we will go to Buriram. If not, we will stay [in Europe] and recover.”

The COTA winner, who is moving to Monster Yamaha next season, added that his original target had been to return for Buriram, this weekend, or the following Sepang round.

“So what we did in Mandalika and here on the first day was like extra, so let's see if I can recover a little bit more,” he said.