Honda WorldSBK injury woes continue at Dutch Round

Honda HRC rider Somkiat Chantra has been declared unfit ahead of Sunday's races at the Dutch WorldSBK after a crash in FP3 on Saturday.

Chantra crashed exiting turn six on Saturday morning at Assen. The Thai rider's brought out the red flags as he and his bike lay in the track and had to be cleared.

He was then taken to the circuit medical centre for an evaluation of his condition. He was then diagnosed with a lower back contusion, contusions in his thigh muscles, as well as a hematoma, as confirmed by a communication from WorldSBK.

The injuries ruled Chantra out of action for the remainder of Saturday's running at the Dutch World Superbike round.

He was also due to be reviewed ahead of Sunday's Warm Up session. That review has now been completed and the 2026 rookie has been declared unfit.

Chantra has already been injured this year, crashing at Sepang in January and breaking both arms. He missed the opening round of the season at Phillip Island as a result of that crash and was only able to make his WorldSBK debut at the second round in Portugal three weeks ago.

His teammate for this season, Jake Dixon, is also on the sidelines for Honda after his testing crash at Phillip Island that resulted in left wrist fractures. The British rider was replaced by HRC test rider Jonathan Rea at Portimao and the Northern Irishman is standing in for the former Moto2 winner at Assen this weekend, too.

Rea finished 17th in Saturday's Race 1 after qualifying 18th. He said afterwards he was "frustrated" with his position in qualifying having felt his lap time was quite fast.

In Australia, there were still two Hondas on-track despite the absence of Dixon and Chantra, as Honda Racing UK BSB rider Ryan Vickers wildcarded and test rider Testuta Nagashima replaced Chantra. However, Rea will be the only Honda rider in action at Assen at least on Saturday.

Honda is currently the last placed factory in the manufacturers’ standings, behind the one-bike Kawasaki having scored only 11 points through the first six races.