Pedro Acosta will miss Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix thanks to left shoulder trauma resulting from his crash in Saturday’s MotoGP sprint race.

The Tech3 KTM rookie dislocated his shoulder when he fell on lap 11 of 13 at Phillip Island. Although nothing was broken, the 20-year-old was declared unfit following further medical checks on Sunday morning.

Despite some flashes of pace for the rider who took pole position last time out in Japan, a poorly-timed qualifying run meant he only qualified 15th, his worst starting position of the year.

The Spaniard had only progressed as high as 11th place when his bike spat him into the air. In the violent impact with the ground, his shoulder popped out of place, although it was later repositioned.

After an initial medical examination he was released from the medical centre, with the plan to check how he spent the night and re-evaluate his condition before Sunday’s warm up.

Despite getting up with the intention of trying to participate in the warm up before the main race, the pain was intense and led the doctors to declare him unfit.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

This will be the first time Acosta has missed a race in the top category. However, it does not seem that the injury will prevent him from competing in the next two rounds of the calendar, next week in Thailand and a week later in Malaysia.

Until then, the Spaniard will receive conservative, minimally invasive treatment, based on giving the joint time to heal so that he can get on the bike next Friday at Buriram.

“I’ve crashed many times in my career, but this is the first time in my life that the bike spat me into the air when entering the corner,” said Acosta, who has accumulated 24 crashes this season.

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Martin “relieved” Marquez suffered early setback in Australia sprint

He leads that particular metric ahead of even Marc Marquez, who has 22 accidents, but none so far this weekend.

Acosta was unable to finish either the short or the long race in Japan two weeks ago. On Saturday he crashed from the lead of sprint when he seemed on the verge of his breakthrough win.

He then fell in the Japanese Grand Prix on the following day, while disputing the lead with Francesco Bagnaia.

Fermin Aldeguer came out on top of a superb duel with Aron Canet to win the Moto2 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island on Sunday.

A fast-paced battle between the pair over the second half of the race reached its crescendo with two changes of lead on the last lap.

Canet (Fantic Racing) took SpeedUp’s Aldeguer at Miller, only for the latter to respond in forceful style with an outbraking move at MG. Neither rider wanted to give an inch as both almost ran off the track on the exit, but Aldeguer made the move stick.

Alonso Lopez (SpeedUp) ran with Canet and Aldeguer before dropping off the pace beyond half-distance. He was being caught for third by Senna Agius (Intact GP) when he fell with two laps remaining.

This allowed Australia’s Agius to claim a podium result at home.

Ai Ogura could only manage fourth place for MT Helmet-MSi, meaning the Japanese rider will have to wait until at least next weekend’s Thai Grand Prix to seal the world championship title that had been a mathematical possibility in Australia.

Diogo Moreira of Italtrans and Gresini Moto2’s Manuel Gonzalez – who had to serve a long lap penalty and thus fell out of the lead group early – were fifth and sixth respectively.

Barry Baltus (RW-Idrofoglia) and Tony Arbolino(VDS) came home seventh and eighth, with Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets-MSI) recovering from 16th on the starting grid to finish ninth.

Marcos Ramirez rounded out the top 10 for American Racing Team.

Moto2 Australian GP – Race results:

Alonso’s impressive run in Moto3 continues

David Alonso, CFMOTO Aspar Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Earlier, David Alonso made a trademark late break from a multi-bike battle for the lead to score a comfortable win in the Australian Grand Prix Moto3 race.

The Aspar rider, who sealed the world championship title at the Japanese Grand Prix two weeks ago, was almost three seconds to the good after splitting from the 15-rider pack with three laps remaining.

That left David Munoz (BOE Motorsports), Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) and Daniel Holgado (Tech3) to fight it out over second place, with Stefano Nepa (Levelup-MTA) joining that dice over the course of the final lap.

This squabble was settled in Holgado’s favour on the run to the line, with Fernandez completing the podium ahead of Nepa and Munoz.

With his rivals Collin Veijer (Intact GP) and Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets-MSi) both falling after Veijer lost control on lap 12, second place was an ideal result for Holgado in his bid for second place in the championship.

As Veijer and Ortola failed to score, Holgado emerged in a secure second place on the points table, 23 points ahead of Veijer and 41 clear of Ortola.

Ryusei Yamanaka (Mti Helmets-MSi) led the group disputing sixth place over the line. His Japanese countryman Taiyo Furosata (Honda Team Asia) followed him home.

Also finishing within a second of Furosata were Luca Lunetta (SIC58), Jose Antonio Rueda (Ajo) and Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing).

Moto3 Australian GP – Race results:

• The Super Eagles of Nigeria were met with an unsavoury and unexpected welcome upon their arrival at Al Abraq Airport in Libya
• Members of the Nigerian team contingent were left stranded and unattended for a period spanning 20 hours
• A Premier League manager has criticised the Libyan Football Federation for their treatment of the Nigerian team

The seemingly unpleasant act that the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) carried out against the Super Eagles of Nigeria continues to attract widespread criticism from various footballing stakeholders.

Upon their arrival at Al Abraq Airport for what was supposed to be the reverse fixture of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification match, members of the Nigerian team contingent were left stranded without food and necessary resources, largely unattended to by the LFF.

The Super Eagles eventually opted to forfeit their qualification clash, with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) issuing a strong statement condemning the actions of the Libyan federation.

However, as criticism continues to be directed at this seemingly unpleasant situation, a Premier League manager has aired his take on the airport saga.

Premier League coach speaks on Nigeria airport saga

Ahead of his 150th game as Fulham’s coach, Marco Silva, condemned the Libyan authorities for their mistreatment of Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, and their Super Eagles teammates.

In a pre-match press conference, Silva addressed the situation surrounding Iwobi and Bassey during their international duty, expressing concern over their fitness for the upcoming match against Aston Villa. He told reporters, as noted by AllNigeriaSoccer:

“It’s a situation that brings mixed feelings. When players represent their national teams, we all expect them to return healthy and ready to compete for us.

“Moreover, we hope they can perform at a high level, maintain their fitness and momentum, and, most importantly, enjoy playing for their countries.

“Unfortunately, that was not the case for Calvin, Alex, and their teammates. This experience was neither professional nor normal, and it’s certainly not something that should be part of football.

“They are back with us now. The first two days were tough for them as they recovered from everything, but I am confident they will be ready to play.”

CAF sanction for Libya surfaces

Ekwutosblog in another report detailed the CAF sanctions against Libya following the airport incident involving Nigeria.

The report emphasised that the governing body is preparing to impose a heavy fine on Libya, along with other significant penalties.