Bradl substitutes injured Marquez; Mir focused on return to Austin

AUSTIN: Stefan Bradl replaced injured Marc Marquez to join Joan Mir for the Repsol Honda Team as the MotoGP World Championship arrives at the Grand Prix of the Americas.

Marquez continues to focus on the recovery of his injured right hand and will miss the Americas GP as a result.

Bradl's last race in Austin was in 2016 and his appearances in 2013 and 2014 aboard the LCR Honda yielded two top-five finishes. In 2014 he started from the front row, behind Marquez and Dani Pedrosa as the RC213V locked out the top three.

The Repsol Honda Team, with Mir and Bradl, head for the Circuit of the Americas looking for redemption and to capture past form.

The 5.51-kilometre-long circuit has previously been a happy hunting ground for the RC213V with Marquez guiding it to victory on seven occasions, undefeated from 2013 to 2018.

Mir has spent the week between races recovering from the impact of his heavy crash during the first lap of the Sprint race in Argentina. The Spaniard is determined to put together an issue-free weekend to continue his adaptation to the Honda RC213V, with racing mileage the key to further improvements.

Last year Mir achieved his equal-best finish of the year when he was fourth at the Americas GP.