Ben Spies arrived in Malaysia full of aches and pains following his qualifying crash at Phillip Island that left him with concussion and ripped tissue around his ribs which ruled him out of the Australian GP.
Now seven days later the factory Yamaha rider who had been declared fit to ride has decided to withdraw ahead of tomorrow’s race at the Sepang International circuit.
Spies struggled through Friday’s practice sessions and today crashed twice, once in the third free practice and then again during qualifying where he managed just a 16th place.
The team and rider decided it was better that he opt out of the race and try to recover for the season finale at Valencia in two weeks time and for the official post-race test.
The American will also skip the 1000cc test that Yamaha had programmed for Monday.
The grid is now down to 16 riders.