Marc VDS Honda 2018 MotoGP signing Tom Luthi has been ruled out of what would have been his first test with the team due to injury.
Luthi surrendered the 2017 Moto2 title to his future MotoGP team-mate Franco Morbidelli when he suffered an ankle fracture in a crash in qualifying crash for penultimate round of the season at Sepang last weekend.
He is now set to undergo surgery, and will be not fit in time for either the Moto2 finale at Valencia or the subsequent two-day MotoGP test at which he was due to make his debut on Marc VDS’s Honda RC213V.
“Unfortunately I cannot ride my last race in the Moto2 class on my Kalex in Valencia,” Luthi wrote on social media on Tuesday.
“I have to fix my ankle with a surgery this week.
“I hope to start the rehabilitation programme very soon to be back on both my legs very fast.”
While he will now likely have to wait until next year to sample the Marc VDS bike, Luthi does already have previous MotoGP test experience with KTM last year.
He is guaranteed second in the Moto2 standings regardless of the result at Valencia.