{"id":425520,"date":"2026-01-20T13:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425520\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T13:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:17:08","slug":"honda-rookies-world-superbike-debut-in-doubt-after-worse-than-expected-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425520\/","title":{"rendered":"Honda rookie\u2019s World Superbike debut in doubt after worse-than-expected injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Honda World Superbike rookie Somkiat Chantra looks unlikely to make the start of the 2026 season, as a training injury has proven worse than expected.<\/p>\n<p>The double Moto2 grand prix winner will move to the production-based series with the factory Honda squad this year, following a single season with the marque in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/motogp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MotoGP<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/wsbk\/racer\/1043651\/somkiat-chantra\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Somkiat Chantra<\/a> was training last week at the Sepang International Circuit on a CBR1000RR road bike, as he ups his preparations for the season ahead.<\/p>\n<p>But the Thai rider crashed during the training session and was initially diagnosed with a fracture to his right arm following X-rays at hospital in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n<p>However, further medical evaluation back home in Thailand has revealed that he also injured his left arm.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Honda said Chantra underwent surgery on both arms, with his right arm now in a cast as he begins recovery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFollowing further medical examinations after his return to Thailand, Somkiat Chantra successfully underwent surgery on both arms on Saturday 17 January at Bangkok Hospital,\u201d Honda said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis right arm has been placed in a cast, while the left arm did not require one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFurther updates on Chantra\u2019s recovery timeline will be provided in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With pre-season testing beginning again this week, ahead of the opening round of the campaign in Australia on 20-22 February, Chantra is unlikely to make the start of his debut season.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea has joined Honda as an official test rider this year, though it&#8217;s unclear if he would be called up to replace Chantra.<\/p>\n<p>Honda could look to its MotoGP test rider pool, with Takaaki Nakagami having prior experience of the brand\u2019s Superbike machinery at the Suzuka 8 Hours.<\/p>\n<p>Chantra was signed by LCR to step up to MotoGP last year, originally holding a two-year deal.<\/p>\n<p>But the Thai rider endured an immensely difficult campaign, scoring just seven points on his way to 26th in the standings.<\/p>\n<p>The was four places behind the next full-time rider, which was Jorge Martin, who only competed in seven events due to injury.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Chantra has been replaced by reigning Moto2 champion Diogo Moreira at LCR for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Honda World Superbike rookie Somkiat Chantra looks unlikely to make the start of the 2026 season, as a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,914,806,805,803,804,16242,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-425520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-honda","11":"tag-motor","12":"tag-motor-sports","13":"tag-motosport","14":"tag-motosports","15":"tag-somkiat-chantra","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}