Marquez has been out of action since last July when he broke his right arm in a heavy fall during the opening Spanish Grand Prix.

He has since undergone three operations, the last of which coming in December when he had bone grafted onto his humerus from his hip.

He was also treated for an infection in the arm from the second operation he had back in August following an aborted comeback just days after his first surgery at the Andalusian GP.

Marquez’s arm started to show signs of proper recovery following his third operation, with the Honda rider cleared to begin training with bikes again earlier this month.

Despite this, doctors have advised him against racing in this weekend’s opening round of the 2021 campaign in Qatar.

“After the last review with the medical team, the doctors have advised me that the most prudent thing was not to take part in the Qatar Grand Prix and to continue with the recovery plan that we have followed in recent weeks,” Marquez said.

“I would have loved to be able to participate in the opening race of the world championship, but we will have to continue working to be able to recover the optimal conditions that allow us to return to competition.”

Marquez’s doctors’ decision to advise against racing in Qatar was motivated by a desire to avoid putting strain on the still-recovering humerus through “intense competition” following such a length period of inactivity.

He will undergo a further medical check-up on 12 April according to Honda, which rules him out of the Doha GP in Qatar next weekend too. HRC is yet to confirm this, but Marquez revealed it on social media.

"After the last check-up with the medical team, they have advised me not to participate in the two Qatar races so we will continue with the recovery to return to compete as soon as possible,” he wrote on Instagram.

Marquez made his first public appearance with Honda last month at the factory team’s 2021 launch event, and confirmed then racing in the first Qatar race was a target.

However, he conceded this decision will be dictated by advice from his doctors – Marquez giving clear signals he has learned from the mistakes made last July.

Marquez has been in action in Barcelona and at the Algarve Circuit in Portugal riding an RC213V-S Honda track bike over the past week having stepped up his training.

Though Honda is yet to confirm his replacement, his place will be taken by HRC test rider Stefan Bradl, who stood in for the injured six-time world champion from the Czech GP onwards last year.

The Italian has taken over the Tech3 seat vacated by factory rider Miguel Oliveira after the Italian lost his place at Ducati for 2021.

Tech3 managed to win two races in 2020 courtesy of Oliveira, but has endured a difficult start to the 2021 campaign with Petrucci.

He qualified 21st and 17th for the opening two rounds in Qatar, crashing out of round one at the second corner and struggling to 19th in last weekend’s Doha Grand Prix.

Petrucci says he is using an “extreme” set-up on his KTM which gave him a better feeling for the Doha race, but the paddock’s tallest rider says his size was costing him under acceleration and forcing him to overstress his front tyre as he tried to recoup lost time in braking.

“I felt really, really good and we saw something better in practice,” Petrucci said after the Doha race.

“But the fact was the first lap, I cannot really stay with the top guys because everybody passed me because I notice on acceleration since [warm-up] that we lose too much.

“Every acceleration, a rider gets in front of me.

“Braking is good, but this means I always enter into a corner with too much speed and since lap three the tyre is really hot. We have to work on this.

“For sure we went with an extreme set-up for KTM for my size, and maybe my size is too big for the bike because I was looking at some photos and I am really… let’s say, it seems like [I am riding] a Moto3 [bike].

“For a few laps it’s ok, but compared to the other riders especially when they have a slipstream I can’t even stay in the slipstream and this is a problem for the race, especially when we have a long straight like in this track."

Despite this, Petrucci says he likes the RC16 “a lot” but admits he “didn’t expect” to struggle so much in the opening races.

“I’m happy about the progress we made, but I’m absolutely sad about the results,” he added. “I was expecting more for sure.

“On a few laps I’m ok, but really from the third lap I started to fight with the bike, especially with the tyre temperature.

“I like the bike a lot and I can be fast, because in some sessions I was fast. But on the pace, it was difficult, I didn’t expect that.”

Martin crashed heavily in the latter stages of FP3 last Saturday and suffered multiple fractures, with the Pramac rookie taken to hospital in Faro and ruled out of the Portuguese GP weekend.

The Spaniard was transferred to hospital in Barcelona on Monday for surgery, though an operation on a fractured right hand and ankle had to be postponed as a precaution following the knock to the head he took in the accident.

Martin will go under the knife on Wednesday morning and will not be in action next weekend at Jerez.

Motorsport.com can reveal Pramac has opted to run Rabat in place of Martin.

Rabat stepped up to MotoGP in 2016 with Marc VDS having won the Moto2 crown in 2014, before beginning his association with Ducati at Avintia in 2018.

The Spaniard suffered a horror leg injury in a crash during practice for the 2019 British GP, and continued to suffer the after-effects when he returned to racing in 2020.

Rabat did have a contract with Avintia for the 2021 season, but was moved aside when a deal was struck between Ducati and Luca Marini to bring the 2020 Moto2 runner-up into the premier class on a VR46-backed Avintia GP19.

Left without options in MotoGP, Rabat accepted an offer to join the Ducati-supported Barni Racing squad in World Superbikes.

Rabat will make his WSBK debut when the delayed 2021 season begins on 21 May, leaving him a free agent to stand in for Martin for the Spanish GP, as well as the French GP at Le Mans two weeks later if required.

Brivio left his position running Suzuki’s MotoGP squad off the back of last year’s world championship victory to take up a senior F1 role with Alpine.

The Italian serves as the racing director for Alpine, jointly running the outfit alongside executive director Marcin Budkowski following its restructuring of its management team.

Discussing his first two races working in F1, Brivio said that one of the biggest things he had to get used to following his move was the use of team radio to stay in constant contact with the drivers.

In MotoGP, teams can only communicate with riders while they are out on-track via short messages on the dashboard of the bike or by using a pit board.

“It’s maybe a funny a thing, but the biggest difference is the radio,” Brivio said.

“You are in contact with the driver constantly, the race engineer telling them to do this, to do that, wait a little bit, whatever.

“[In MotoGP] once the race starts, the rider is by himself. You just sit down and you watch television, that’s all you can do.

“Here, you’re constantly in contact. You’re almost in the car. You are much more a part of what is going on in the track, I think.

“You’re not just enjoying it. You enjoy it, but not as a spectator. So the radio was the biggest difference, but interesting and very exciting.”

Brivio said that he was surprised by how quickly F1 races went by once underway, typically lasting around an hour longer than MotoGP events.

“I experienced the first race in Bahrain, at the beginning I would say, 'wow, 1h40m, 1h45m, whatever it is, it will be long’.

“But it went quickly, because you’re so busy, listening, checking, analysing. So it’s very interesting, a great experience.”

Brivio has also been impressed by the greater complexity of the technology and the data collected in F1 compared to MotoGP.

“I’m not an engineer, but I can really appreciate from the technology,” Brivio said. “It’s very interesting, and this one of the reasons why I decided to join, because I couldn’t understand everything from the television or when you come as a guest.

“There are many similarities I would say. Riders and drivers, they have the same up and down motivation. [They are in] good shape, bad shape, complaining, not happy, whatever. So from this point of view it’s OK.

“Just maybe the technology, it’s more complex. The car is bigger, it’s many more parts, much more information and things you can measure, and therefore as a consequence, many things you need to analyse and check.

“It’s very interesting and I'm very excited to get in.”

Double 125cc world champion and veteran team boss Gresini died in February after a two-month battle with COVID-19.

The team – which operates in Moto3, Moto2 and in MotoGP currently as Aprilia’s factory entrant – vowed to continue racing despite Gresini’s tragic passing.

As the squad gets set to return to independent status in 2022, Padovani will take over the roles previously occupied by her late husband – while their sons Lorenzo and Luca will take on roles within the team.

“I would like to think that Fausto’s two families – ours and the racing one – have joined their efforts to bring forward everything he was planning, and especially the MotoGP,” Padovani said.

“To have an independent team in the premier class is surely something very demanding, with a team to be built from scratch, but I know everyone in the company is giving their 110% to make his dream come true.

“Personally, I see it as a real mission, a challenge we will face – also and above all – thanks to the strength of Fausto, who is following us from above.

“We’re currently speaking with several manufacturers and in a matter of few weeks we will reveal the details of our MotoGP project.”

Double 125cc world champion and veteran team boss Gresini died in February after a two-month battle with COVID-19.

The team – which operates in Moto3, Moto2 and in MotoGP currently as Aprilia’s factory entrant – vowed to continue racing despite Gresini’s tragic passing.

As the squad gets set to return to independent status in 2022, Padovani will take over the roles previously occupied by her late husband – while their sons Lorenzo and Luca will take on roles within the team.

“I would like to think that Fausto’s two families – ours and the racing one – have joined their efforts to bring forward everything he was planning, and especially the MotoGP,” Padovani said.

“To have an independent team in the premier class is surely something very demanding, with a team to be built from scratch, but I know everyone in the company is giving their 110% to make his dream come true.

“Personally, I see it as a real mission, a challenge we will face – also and above all – thanks to the strength of Fausto, who is following us from above.

“We’re currently speaking with several manufacturers and in a matter of few weeks we will reveal the details of our MotoGP project.”

After quitting the premier class in 2004, Aprilia returned to MotoGP in 2015 as a factory entrant running in conjunction with Gresini Racing.

This partnership has continued through to 2021, though the current agreement between Aprilia and Gresini expires at the end of this season – with the latter confirming its return to independent team status late last year.

There was little doubt about Aprilia extending its stay in MotoGP, with its strong start to 2021 aboard its new RS-GP vindicating the resources being spent on the project.

Aprilia has floated the idea of supplying bikes to a satellite squad in 2022, but so far the press release confirming its stay in MotoGP only mentions a factory team entrant.

"I am obviously happy about this agreement,” Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola said. “From next season, we will be participating as Aprilia Racing Factory Team.

"This opens up new and hopefully great opportunities and we will need to manage many additional responsibilities.

“It is a natural step that we are taking just as we are beginning to see the first positive signs from the hard work we’ve done in Noale, first and foremost on our structure, and consequently on our beautiful RS-GP bikes.

“At this time, our thoughts and gratitude go to Gresini Racing, who have accompanied us in these years.

“In heartfelt memory of Fausto, I wish the team and all its staff the best success for the coming seasons.”

Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta added: “Dorna and Aprilia extending their partnership is really positive news for the FIM MotoGP World Championship.

“We are excited to continue this association with the Italian manufacturer in a project that has set many fascinating goals, not just in racing performance, but in overall technical excellence of the championship.”

Earlier on Thursday Gresini Racing announced that Nadia Padovani, the wife of late Fausto Gresini, had taken over ownership of the outfit and has become its team principal.

Aprilia currently sits fourth in the constructors’ standings, with Aleix Espargaro sixth in the riders’ points after three-successive top 10 finishes from the opening three rounds.

Herve Poncharal’s Tech 3 squad ended a 20-year partnership with Yamaha at the conclusion of the 2018 season to join forces with KTM as it extended its presence on the MotoGP grid to four bikes.

Running factory-supported RC16s, Tech 3 scored two of KTM’s three grand prix victories in 2020, when Miguel Oliveira took a sensational maiden win at the Styrian Grand Prix before dominating the season finale in Portugal.

Poncharal said earlier this year that negotiations about continuing with KTM for the next five years were already at an advanced stage, with the Austrian manufacturer confirming a new agreement on Sunday morning ahead of the Spanish GP.

“We are very proud to make this announcement of a new five-year deal with Tech 3,” KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer said.

“It is a very important strategic move for us as part of our long-term strategy in the sport.

“We already agreed our participation with Dorna for another five years and it was vital to have that foundation and stability in MotoGP by renewing our agreement with Tech 3.

“For the last few years, we have been building-up our structure and now it provides an incredible path from Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, Moto3, Moto2 and then four valuable places in the premier class where we want to succeed.

“With Herve and the Tech 3 crew we have the ideal partner and we see the whole operation as part of ‘one team’.

“It’s more than a pleasure to say we’ll be able to attack the next five years together.”

Poncharal added: “I feel very proud, very privileged and very honoured to announce our renewed partnership with KTM.

“I think we will be the first independent team to announce a five-year agreement with a manufacturer in MotoGP history.

“This is quite an achievement and it also highlights how strong our relationship is and how well the first three years of our partnership have been working.

“I believe the best is yet to come. We share the same values, the same target, which is to never give up and be ready to race.

“So now that this deal is done, signed, confirmed, let’s work even harder on the 2021 season and of course let’s think how to be best prepared for 2022.

“I really believe this organisation has all the ingredients to be winning and it’s just up to us to put all the pieces together to make it work and chase victory at every single round.”

The start to the 2021 season hasn’t been easy for Tech 3, with new signing Danilo Petrucci scoring just three points so far as he continues to adjust from the Ducati to the RC16.

Teammate Iker Lecuona has similarly found the going tough, the young Spaniard scoring just one point in the first three races.

The Italian marque signed Bagnaia to a two-year deal with its works squad beginning in 2021, but Miller only had a firm one-season contract with an option for a second.

Miller – who has been part of the Ducati family since 2018 when he joined Pramac – came under pressure at the start of 2021 after a lacklustre opening to his campaign, with various issues in the Qatar double-header leaving him with just two ninth-place results, while a crash in Portugal only added to his woes.

However, Miller has shot back into championship contention after taking a first victory in five years at the Spanish Grand Prix before backing it up with a win in the flag-to-flag French GP.

Ahead of Ducati's home round at Mugello, it has announced it has taken up the option on Miller's contract for 2022.

"We are delighted to be able to announce that we will continue with Miller also in 2022," Ducati general manager Gigi Dall'Igna said.

"In this first season, Jack has shown great talent, professionalism, and strong determination.

"He was able to secure two important victories in different conditions after a tough start to the season.

"For sure, he is one of the riders that better knows how to understand our Desmosedici GP to fully take advantage of its potential in any condition, as the recent success in Le Mans has demonstrated.

"As always, our goal remains the championship title, and we believe that with Jack and Pecco, we will be among the main protagonists of the 2022 title charge."

As well as Miller and Bagnaia, Ducati also currently has Pramac rookie Jorge Martin firmed up for 2022.

Martin is currently out with injury following a nasty crash during the Portuguese GP weekend but is expected to return for the Catalan GP next week.

​​​​​​​His Pramac teammate Johann Zarco only has a one-year deal at present, but his place for 2022 with Pramac and Ducati is set to be firmed up soon.

Ducati is also expected to announce the continuing of its relationship with Pramac from 2022 in the coming days.

The Italian marque's other satellite squad Avintia – currently fielding Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini – is set to quite MotoGP at the end of the season, with Ducati linked to a deal with Valentino Rossi's incoming VR46 squad for 2022.

Ahead of this weekend's Mugello round, Bagnaia, Zarco and Miller currently sit second, third and fourth in the championship and within 16 points of leader Fabio Quartararo.

Pramac first became a Ducati customer squad back in 2005 and in recent years has effectively become the Italian manufacturer's junior squad.

The current factory Ducati line-up of Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia were promoted from Pramac for this season, while the likes of double race winner Danilo Petrucci and one-time grand prix victor Andrea Iannone came through Pramac to the factory squad.

In 2021, Pramac fields a pair of full works bikes for its riders Johann Zarco and rookie Jorge Martin, with that support to continue for at least the next three years.

"We are very proud of the work and the results we have achieved in recent years with Ducati, we are happy to continue this wonderful adventure for the next three years," Pramac owner Paolo Campinoti said ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

"We have created a very special relationship with Ducati, we have achieved incredible goals and the best is yet to come!"

Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti added: "It is really a pleasure for us to be able to announce the renewal of our partnership with Pramac Racing for the next three MotoGP seasons.

"Together with Pramac Racing we have achieved very important results and, thanks to the close collaboration with them, we have been able to increase the young riders in the top category who have then moved on to the official team with success.

"And we are sure we have what it takes to enjoy many other great satisfactions together with Pramac Racing!"

Pramac duo Zarco and Martin have contributed heavily to Ducati's successful start to 2021, with the former scoring three podiums in the first five races, while Martin stormed to third in the Doha GP.

Zarco currently sits 12 points from the championship leader Fabio Quartararo in third.

Martin – who is currently sidelined with injury - will remain with Pramac in 2022 having penned a two-year deal with Ducati last year, while Zarco's renewal is expected to be announced soon.

Ducati confirmed earlier this week that Miller will remain with its factory team for 2022 alongside Bagnaia.

Ducati currently supplies the Avintia squad with GP19s, but has been linked to a partnership with Valentino Rossi's squad from 2022 when Avintia departs the championship.

During the French GP weekend, Zarco said he didn't think any tie-up between Ducati and VR46 would do anything to "destroy" the strong support Pramac currently receives.

Binder has spent much of his road racing career with KTM, coming through the Red Bull Rookies Cup into Moto3 in 2012 before joining KTM’s main Ajo Motorsport squad in 2016.

The South African dominated the season to win the Moto3 crown before spending three seasons in Moto2 with the Ajo KTM squad – finishing runner-up in 2019.

Graduating to MotoGP last year with the factory KTM squad, Binder stunned when he scored his and the Austrian marque’s first victory just three rounds into the campaign at Brno.

“I’m super, super happy to have signed again for three more seasons with KTM and it will take us up to ten years,” Binder said.

“It’s incredible to have been with this manufacturer for such a long time now and we’ve always had a good relationship.

“I’m extremely happy in KTM colours so it’s extra satisfying to have a long contract signed-up.

“It’s cool to have that belief and support from a company.

“It’s an honour. From here on we can focus on building ourselves towards the front.

“We are not terribly far away, and it would be really nice to do something great together.

“It’s exciting to see what these next years will bring.”

KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer added: “This was a very easy contract for us to do because we love Brad as a racer and what he brings to the team, the factory and the MotoGP class.

“He was also very enthusiastic to make a big commitment to us and that says a lot for our progression and our potential in this championship.

“Sometimes you find a racer and a mentality that really fits with your own philosophy and the fact that Brad has come all the way to the top with us in a ten year period is a very special story.

“We’re really proud to continue racing with him and to keep setting new targets together.”

Binder’s current teammate Miguel Oliveira is expected to extend his stay with KTM, having stepped up to the factory squad this year.

At Tech 3, KTM looks set to shake-up its line-up there after it emerged the automatic renewal period on Danilo Petrucci’s contract has expired and KTM did not exercise the option.

Moto2 frontrunners at the Ajo squad Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez are linked to promotions to MotoGP for 2022.

Following a serious incident in the Moto3™ Qualifying 2 session at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley, it is with great sadness that we report the passing of Moto3™ rider Jason Dupasquier.

Dupasquier was involved in a multi-rider incident between Turns 9 and 10, with the session Red Flagged thereafter. FIM Medical Intervention Vehicles arrived at the site immediately and the Swiss rider was attended to on track before being transferred by medical helicopter, in a stable state, to Careggi Hospital in Florence.

Despite the best efforts of circuit medical staff and all those subsequently attending to the Swiss rider, the hospital has announced that Dupasquier has sadly succumbed to his injuries.

Dupasquier had made an impressive start to his second season in the lightweight class of Grand Prix racing, consistently scoring points and within the top ten in the standings.

The FIM, IRTA, MSMA and Dorna Sports pass on our deepest condolences to Dupasquier’s family, friends, team and loved ones.