MotoGP Hungary GP: Aleix Espargaro to Replace Injured Somkiath Chantra at LCR Honda

Somkiat Chantra will not line up for the upcoming MotoGP rounds in Austria and Hungary as he continues to recover from a right knee ligament injury. The LCR Honda rider picked up the injury during training after the Dutch GP and had surgery with hopes of making it back for the Red Bull Ring. But a mid-August check-up confirmed he still isn’t ready to race, meaning he’ll miss both events.

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For Austria, LCR Honda decided to go without a replacement because several Honda test riders were already sidelined and there were no immediate options. In Hungary, however, Aleix Espargaró will step in. The HRC test rider, who ended his full-time MotoGP career in 2024, has kept himself race-ready with testing duties and three wildcard starts this season.

It’s been a tough year for Chantra, who has only one point to his name from a 15th-place finish at the Dutch GP, the same weekend he got injured. His qualifying results have also been underwhelming, never starting higher than 19th. With results not going his way, there’s been talk about whether LCR Honda and sponsor Idemitsu will keep an Asian rider for 2026.

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Chantra's absence is a reminder of how demanding MotoGP is, both physically and mentally, especially for riders stepping up from Moto2. Chantra’s injury and season struggles show just how unforgiving the sport can be, where resilience counts as much as outright speed.